Geneva (WAM)
Janine Plasschaert, United Nations Special Coordinator, and Lieutenant General Arold Lazaro, Head of the UNIFIL Mission (the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), confirmed in a joint statement yesterday that a negotiated solution is the only way to restore security and stability on both sides of the Blue Line.
The statement confirmed that, after a year of exchanges of fire across the Blue Line, a large number of people were killed, while others were displaced, and repeated calls for restraint, protection of civilians, adherence to international humanitarian law, and a return to a cessation of hostilities went unheeded. The two UN officials stressed that every bomb dropped and every ground raid carried out moves both parties away from the vision stipulated in Resolution 1701 of 2006, as well as away from the conditions necessary to ensure permanent security for civilians on both sides of the Blue Line. The statement stressed that more violence and destruction will not solve the underlying issues, nor will it make anyone safer in the long term.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese army confirmed yesterday its deployment throughout the entire country, including the country’s southern borders. The army command said in a statement that “in light of the increasing attacks by the Israeli side on various Lebanese regions,” the army is deployed throughout the country and assumes its national responsibilities.
She added that the army maintains its readiness to defend the land within the available capabilities, based on the decisions and directives of the political authority to do what it deems appropriate in order to protect Lebanon and the military institution and to adhere to International Resolution No. 1701 in close coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The army leadership stressed that its priority is to protect the institution, maintain its cohesion, stop the aggression, remain steadfast, support citizens, keep pace with the displacement crisis, and continue rescue operations in coordination with the competent agencies in conjunction with preserving civil peace and internal stability.
In this regard, she expressed her aspiration for the success of international efforts to stop the Israeli occupation aggression as soon as possible, stressing that what is required is to preserve national unity to preserve Lebanon, which will overcome this ordeal as it has overcome and overcome past crises and challenges.
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