Lebanon: The UN peacekeepers helping communities who’ve stayed behind

“It’s extremely volatile, extremely dangerous, and you know, we see the situation for us as peacekeepers, also for the civilians who remain in certain areas, because there are civilians who have chosen to stay and peacekeepers are supporting them in any way that we can,” UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel told UN News.

This help involves coordinating and delivering humanitarian aid, she explained, speaking from the force’s headquarters in Naqoura, southwest Lebanon.

Peacekeepers have also assisted in relocating civilians to safer areas upon request and continue to conduct patrols to monitor the situation and provide reassurance to those who remain.

Battleground

During our interview with Ms. Ardiel, gunfire could be heard in the background.

An estimated 2,000 villagers still live close to the Blue Line that separates Israel from Lebanon.

“These villages are obviously in a very difficult position. They’re increasingly cut off from the rest of Lebanon, and they’re having a hard time getting supplies,” Ms. Ardiel explained. “So, there are agencies that are helping to bring food, medicine, and hygiene supplies to them in the south, and UNIFIL is helping to coordinate their movements to ensure that they can safely get to the places where they need to go.”

In addition to recording rocket and missile fire, the UN mission has reported Israeli troop movements in southern Lebanon and frequent violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 – a critical UN Security Council text adopted in 2006 that calls for a full cessation of hostilities.

Read our Resolution 1701 explainer here.

“We’ve seen a great deal of Israeli incursions into South Lebanon in different areas, including near our headquarters in Naqoura,” Ms. Ardiel said. “About a week ago and in recent days, we witnessed very violent battles that we could hear taking place.”

Peacekeeper commitment

Ms. Ardiel emphasised that, unless the Security Council mandate to UNIFIL changes, peacekeepers are determined to stay and continue their mission: “It’s not the first time, unfortunately, that one of our positions has suffered harm, attack, and damage because of the ongoing violence.”

Point of impact

UNIFIL’s headquarters has been visibly damaged by bullets, shrapnel and rockets, while Israeli military operations have been observed across multiple areas, in Naqoura and further east.

“This is, of course, a violation of Resolution 1701. Every projectile that is fired, every bullet, these are also violations, coming from both sides on a constant basis,” the UNIFIL spokesperson stressed.

“It is extremely dangerous for peacekeepers to operate at the moment,” Ardiel concluded, “but this is something we are doing to help protect civilians who choose to remain in South Lebanon.”