Staged standoff in Beirut ties UNIFIL’s hands on tunnels
UNIFIL chief Gen. Stefano Del Col is getting a Levantine runaround since he asked for permission to inspect the Lebanese villages which Israel accuses of harboring illegal Hizballah tunnels. Under the UNSC Res. 1701 ceasefire, UN monitors need a Lebanese army escort for entering those villages. When President Michel Aoun sat down with Gen. Del Col in Beirut on Tuesday, he explained that, while he fully supports the resolution, he is waiting for the Lebanese army to complete its probes and submit its decision regarding the tunnels. On Monday, however, the Lebanese army chief said he is waiting for President Aoun’s decision. The resulting standoff is designed to tie the hands of UNIFIL for responding to Israel’s demand to take care of the Lebanese end of the tunnels’ liquidation. The ball for bringing the IDF tunnel operation to a successful conclusion has therefore been pitched back into Israel’s court.
This demand should be made from prime minister Hariri and his Future Movement. It is better to ask of this from the anti-Hezbollah elements in Lebanon than from the pro-Hezbollah ones.
This shows again how limited UN peacekeeping operations are. This is embarrassing to the UN and mandates are heavily oppressed by host countries. But business as usual. I wonder if Israel PM will make a fist and set an ultimatum. This could be a part of Hezbollah tactics to seize the opportunity for ground actions. Complicated really. UNIFIL, show some reals actions. If not, you’re not worthy.
This is very serious tunnels’ Mafia issue.
I shall wait for approval from mister Nasrallah first!
Or for mister Guterres to take self notice, but he’s tied up mostly all day long reading with an imam friend.
Israel should bomb the tunnels with Bunker Buster Bombs. We don’t need to send in any soldiers. A good air campaign would be enough.
The UN is THE most corrupt, clueless, wasteful, biased org in all of human history !
Yesterday we heard about tunnels, today we read about them. The Un is as useful as a tomato in space.
UN Resolution 1701 is dead and worthless along with most of the UN…
Italian Unifil returned home, since you can not do anything! At least you save taxpayers’ money, avoiding costly UNUSED transfers!