Increasingly concerned about the level of influence Hezbollah has across Lebanon, but particularly in southern Lebanon, the US and Israel are pushing for a new UN Security Council resolution that would broaden the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
UNIFIL was created in 1978, to monitor the Israeli pullout after a brief invasion, though its mandate has changed a few times because of off-and-on Israeli invasions since. The new mandate aims to broaden UNIFIL’s mission beyond monitoring, with an eye toward cracking down on Hezbollah.
The current mandate expires at the end of the month, and the US has suggested they wanted an expansion like this, at the behest of Israel. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon complained that Hezbollah is growing in strength as UNFIL “sticks its head in the sand.”
While the expiring mandate allows UNIFIL to use force to protect civilians, UN officials have regularly noted that they are not authorized to intercept arms shipments or move against Hezbollah without Lebanese government authorization. Since Hezbollah is a major faction in the Lebanese government, such a request has never come.
For the mandate to go after Hezbollah, it would have to oblige UNIFIL to do so against the wishes of the Lebanese government, which probably won’t sit well with Lebanon, and may make getting a new authorization through the Security Council problematic.
Gee, I guess this is a tacit omission that Hezbollah is cleaning up good on ISIS, Daesh, Hillary’s Foreign Legion or whatever you want call it.. It’s hard to believe that UNIFIL would have any problem with Hezbollah as they chase down ISIS in their last desperate redoubts.. Israel always the bad guise these days..
Hezbollah is fighting to save Syria a supplier of weapons to Hezbollah. It is a matter of survival to them. Without access to weapons they would be at the mercy of the IDF. They have won 2 wars against the IDF and are dug in and willing to fight anyone who attacks their homes and homeland. They are a great example to the world of what it takes to remain free of US and Israeli control.
It will be interesting to see if They can inveigh UNIFIL into confronting Hesbolsh on the Lebanese side of the frontier. In my mind to strengthen the geno-apartheid conduct which Israel inflicts upon its hapless victims. They invade and annex the and and evict the people from their ancestorial homes for millennia, and when they resist and fight these takings and evictions, the occupier aggressors label it terrorism…
Screw them. Hezbollah has been great protectors of the people of Southern Lebanon. They would be in the same boat as the Palestinians if it wasn’t for Hezbollah.
Yeah, good call and enlightening in many ways… S. Lebanon would just become another of the occupied territories… As in MORE land theft….
It will be interesting to see if Russia, China slap down this travesty with their veto. I have no idea what is the UN process to have their UNIFIL act to hobble such actors like Hezbollah, or the Kurds for that matter. There is probably a question whether a veto is even needed, i.e. it could fail by some internal vote of some UN component agency, like UNESCO, not a good example maybe but the only one I can think of….. What about you Dennis Boylon…??? Any idea?
For accuracy the first sentence should read: “……Israel has commanded its vassal, U.S., to push for a new UN Security Council resolution that would broaden the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon.
“to monitor the Israeli pullout after a brief invasion”
The Israelis stayed for 22 years. They used their proxy paramilitary for much of it, but their main forces jumped back in whenever that paramilitary needed support. They went all the way to Beirut, and pulled back from that, but kept Lebanon to the Litani River.