The final text of UN Security Council Resolution 2695 (August 31), which approved the extension of UNIFIL’s mandate to operate in southern Lebanon on the basis of Resolution 1701 of 2006, is an achievement for Israeli diplomatic activity, assisted by the United States, Great Britain, and the United Arab Emirates. Similar to previous resolutions, this time too the resolution includes criticism of Israel for violations, and specifically in relation to the demarcation in the northern portion of the village of Ghajar. However, despite Hezbollah's decided opposition, the resolution preserves and even strengthens the clauses – which were included in last year’s version of the resolution – to ensure the freedom of movement of the force (FOM) without known, prior coordination and explicit requests of the Lebanese government, to allow its people to reach all places required to carry out its investigations, while removing the obstacles to its movement and preventing the risk to the force and the harassment of its soldiers. The resolution also includes a reference to Hezbollah's latest provocative steps, including new positions and new infrastructure along the Blue Line, which interferes with UNIFIL's activities and its ability to check if there are tunnels crossing the line. It also calls for the removal of the tent that the organization's activists erected in the Mount Dov area.
As such, the frenetic efforts on the part of the Lebanese representatives – with clear encouragement from Hezbollah – to cancel the freedom of movement clause for the force failed. Nasrallah contends that Israel seeks to turn the UNIFIL soldiers into its spies. Lebanon demanded that all UNIFIL activities be carried out in coordination and with the knowledge of the Lebanese army, and even threatened to withdraw its request to extend the mandate, but in the end had to settle for a general statement regarding the need for coordination between UNIFIL and the Lebanese government. The decision was supported by 13 out of 15 members of the United Nations, while in unusual fashion, Russia and China abstained.
It was important for Hezbollah to cancel the freedom of movement clause, although in practice UNIFIL rarely implemented it over the last year out of fear of the organization's reaction. Moreover, in the cases when it resorted to the FOM clause, it paid a high price, as happened in December 2022, when an attack on a UNIFIL vehicle passing through a Shiite village caused the death of the one soldier and the injury of others. It is clear that despite the commitment of Lebanon's official representatives to implement the resolution, Hezbollah will continue to act resolutely to prevent this and to ensure the continued presence and activity of the organization in southern Lebanon, in flagrant violation of Resolution 1701, even at the cost of further clashes with UNIFIL.
The final text of UN Security Council Resolution 2695 (August 31), which approved the extension of UNIFIL’s mandate to operate in southern Lebanon on the basis of Resolution 1701 of 2006, is an achievement for Israeli diplomatic activity, assisted by the United States, Great Britain, and the United Arab Emirates. Similar to previous resolutions, this time too the resolution includes criticism of Israel for violations, and specifically in relation to the demarcation in the northern portion of the village of Ghajar. However, despite Hezbollah's decided opposition, the resolution preserves and even strengthens the clauses – which were included in last year’s version of the resolution – to ensure the freedom of movement of the force (FOM) without known, prior coordination and explicit requests of the Lebanese government, to allow its people to reach all places required to carry out its investigations, while removing the obstacles to its movement and preventing the risk to the force and the harassment of its soldiers. The resolution also includes a reference to Hezbollah's latest provocative steps, including new positions and new infrastructure along the Blue Line, which interferes with UNIFIL's activities and its ability to check if there are tunnels crossing the line. It also calls for the removal of the tent that the organization's activists erected in the Mount Dov area.
As such, the frenetic efforts on the part of the Lebanese representatives – with clear encouragement from Hezbollah – to cancel the freedom of movement clause for the force failed. Nasrallah contends that Israel seeks to turn the UNIFIL soldiers into its spies. Lebanon demanded that all UNIFIL activities be carried out in coordination and with the knowledge of the Lebanese army, and even threatened to withdraw its request to extend the mandate, but in the end had to settle for a general statement regarding the need for coordination between UNIFIL and the Lebanese government. The decision was supported by 13 out of 15 members of the United Nations, while in unusual fashion, Russia and China abstained.
It was important for Hezbollah to cancel the freedom of movement clause, although in practice UNIFIL rarely implemented it over the last year out of fear of the organization's reaction. Moreover, in the cases when it resorted to the FOM clause, it paid a high price, as happened in December 2022, when an attack on a UNIFIL vehicle passing through a Shiite village caused the death of the one soldier and the injury of others. It is clear that despite the commitment of Lebanon's official representatives to implement the resolution, Hezbollah will continue to act resolutely to prevent this and to ensure the continued presence and activity of the organization in southern Lebanon, in flagrant violation of Resolution 1701, even at the cost of further clashes with UNIFIL.