UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, including 900 Indians, staying in place: Spokesperson

UNITED NATIONS: The UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, including about 900 Indians, are remaining in place despite the “dangerous developments” following Israel’s ground invasion of the country and the UN is in close contact with their countries with updates, according to the UN spokesperson.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) officials “confirm that despite these dangerous developments, UN peacekeepers remain in position and are regularly adjusting their posture and activities in order to fulfil their mandate”, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday.

“UNIFIL peacekeepers continue to man all the bases and observation posts along the Blue Line that separates Lebanon and Israel,” he said.

But in the last few hours on Tuesday they have not been able to do vehicular patrols along the Line, he added

He said Guterres “remains grateful” to the troop-contributing countries (TCC) “for their continued commitment and support to UNIFIL” as well as the Lebanon mission’s civilian and military personnel.

Amid the escalation of the conflict, Dujarric said, the peacekeepers are in their bases fulfilling their mandate, but sometimes “if the fighting goes to a certain phase, they do have to go into shelter”.

“The Department of Peace Operations (DPO) and UNIFIL are closely engaged with troop-contributing countries to update them on developments and contingency planning”, he said.

If the situation worsens, Dujarric said, the peacekeeping operation has contingency plans. “UNIFIL has been there for quite a long time. They’ve thought through different scenarios”, he said.

Guterres condemned the escalation of the Middle East conflict, without naming Israel which began an invasion of Lebanon after aerial bombings, the Hezbollah that has attacked Israel, and Iran which launched a barrage of missiles against Israel.

“I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation”, he said. “This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire”.

The Indian peacekeepers include 873 troops, 19 staff officers and 6 women.

The UNIFIL deputy force commander is Major General Chok Bahadur Dhakal of Nepal, which has deployed 858 troops.

Also Read: Make selection of UN peacekeepers more stringent: India