UN calls on Israel and Hezbollah to accept ceasefire

Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon says ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah is 'moving forward' but not finalised

Muhannad Hadi, deputy UN special co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process, addresses delegates during a meeting at UN headquarters. AFP

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A top UN official on Monday called on Israel and Hezbollah to accept a ceasefire agreement, after intensified Israeli air strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs. The UN's senior humanitarian co-ordinator Muhannad Hadi said he welcomed progress towards a ceasefire, which could be announced on Tuesday.

The proposal under discussion to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah calls for an initial two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River.

The withdrawals would be accompanied by an influx of thousands more Lebanese army troops, who have been largely sidelined in the war, to patrol the border area along with an existing UN peacekeeping force.

Mr Hadi said warring parties should accept a ceasefire based on the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. “[I] urge the parties to accept a ceasefire anchored in the full implementation of UNSCR 1701,” Mr Hadi told the Security Council on Monday.

The resolution mandates that only UN peacekeeping forces and the Lebanese army should operate in southern Lebanon. Despite this, Iran-backed Hezbollah militants have maintained a strong presence in the area for years.

“The situation remains grave across the region. Israeli military operations continued across the Blue Line with Lebanon, as did the firing of rockets by Hezbollah towards Israel, including a barrage this weekend,” he said.

Ahead of the Security Council meeting, Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon confirmed that a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah is “moving forward” but has not been finalised. He said Israel will retain the right to strike in southern Lebanon under any deal.

He told reporters that the Israeli cabinet is expected to meet on Tuesday to discuss the terms of the ceasefire in Lebanon. Among the remaining problems is an Israeli demand to reserve the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the deal. It is not clear if Lebanon will agree to the demand.

“We learnt the lessons from Resolution 1701 and we will make sure that we will have the ability to neutralise any threat,” Mr Danon said. He said that if the Lebanese army fail to stop Hezbollah in the future, “we will be there”.

France's ambassador to the UN, Nicolas de Riviere, told the Security Council that the solution to the conflict in Lebanon is clear. “We have to ensure that Resolution 1701 is respected by all, and Unifil plays a key role in this,” he said. “Its action must be made more robust while retaining its mandate and exercising its freedom of movement.”

He reminded council members that the Lebanese government must continue to deploy its armed forces south of the Litani River. “The conference in Paris on October 24 made a possibility to raise $200 million for this … and it's in this spirit that France will remain engaged and continue its context,” Mr de Riviere said.

Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel on October 8, last year after Hamas's attacks on southern Israel, igniting the Gaza war. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah intensified into a full-scale war in September.

Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s representative at the UN, called on the “Israeli war machine” to be stopped in Lebanon and Palestine. “It is sowing the conditions of insecurity and hatred for decades,” he said.

“What our region needs is not more wars but a just and lasting peace. What our region needs is not more occupation and annexation, but respect for the right of peoples to self-determination and sovereignty and upholding the universal prohibition of the acquisition of man by force.”