Security Council

7248^th Meeting (AM)

Security Council, Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2172 (2014), Authorizes

Operation of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon for another Year

The Security Council this morning extended the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) until 31 August 2015, with no major changes in deployment.

Through the unanimous adoption of resolution 2172 (2014), the 15-member body called strongly upon all parties concerned to respect the cessation of hostilities in the UNIFIL area of operation, to prevent violations of the Blue Line established between Israeli and Lebanese forces and to cooperate with the mission to make progress towards long-term agreements as envisioned in Council resolution 1701 (2006), which ended the flare-up of violence in that year.

The Council reaffirmed its determination to ensure that no acts of intimidation would prevent UNIFIL from performing its mandated tasks and recalled the need for all parties to ensure that the mission was secure and that its freedom of movement was fully respected and unimpeded.

Also by the text, the Council also welcomed continued dialogue and expansion of coordinated activities between UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces.  It encouraged Member States to support the national army in increasing its capabilities, reaffirming its call for the establishment of a zone free of weapons other than those of UNIFIL and the national armed forces in southern Lebanon.

In a letter to the President of the Security Council requesting the extension of UNIFIL’s mandate (document S/2014/554), the Secretary-General said the presence of the mission remained necessary for peace and stability in southern Lebanon, citing recent incidents of rockets fired from southern Lebanon towards Israel and of retaliation by the Israel Defense Forces across the Blue Line.

The meeting began at 10:00 a.m. and ended at 10:02 a.m.

Resolution

The full text of resolution 2172 (2014) reads as follows:

“The Security Council,

“Recalling all its previous resolutions on Lebanon, in particular resolutions 425 (1978), 426 (1978), 1559 (2004), 1680 (2006), 1701 (2006), 1773 (2007), 1832 (2008), 1884 (2009), 1937 (2010) and 2004 (2011), 2064 (2012) and 2115 (2013) as well as the statements of its President on the situation in Lebanon,

“Responding to the request of the Government of Lebanon to extend the mandate of UNIFIL for a new period of one year without amendment presented in a letter from the Lebanese Foreign Minister to the Secretary-General of 25 July 2014 and welcoming the letter from the Secretary-General to its President of 31 July 2014 (S/2014/554) recommending this extension,

“Reiterating its strong support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon,

“Reaffirming its commitment to the full implementation of all provisions of resolution 1701 (2006), and aware of its responsibilities to help secure a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution as envisioned in the resolution,

“Calling upon all concerned parties to strengthen their efforts to fully implement all provisions of resolution 1701 (2006) without delay,

“Expressing deep concern at all violations in connection with resolution 1701 (2006), and looking forward to the rapid finalization of UNIFIL’s investigations with a view to preventing such violations in the future,

“Welcoming the constructive role played by the tripartite mechanism in de-escalating tensions and expressing its support for the efforts of UNIFIL to engage with both parties to further develop liaison and coordination arrangements,

“Emphasizing the importance of full compliance with the prohibition on sales and supply of arms and related materiel established by resolution 1701 (2006),

“Recalling the utmost importance that all parties concerned respect the Blue Line in its entirety, welcoming the continued progress in the marking of the Blue Line, and encouraging the parties to accelerate their efforts in coordination with UNIFIL to visibly mark the Blue Line in its entirety, as well as to move forward on the marking of its points of contention, as recommended by the Strategic Review,

“Condemning in the strongest terms all attempts to threaten the security and stability of Lebanon, reaffirming its determination to ensure that no such acts of intimidation will prevent UNIFIL from implementing its mandate in accordance with Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) and recalling the necessity for all parties to ensure that UNIFIL personnel are secure and their freedom of movement is fully respected and unimpeded,

“Recalling the relevant principles contained in the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel,

“Commending the active role and dedication of the personnel of UNIFIL and expressing its strong appreciation to Member States that contribute to UNIFIL and underlining the necessity that UNIFIL have at its disposal all necessary means and equipment to carry out its mandate,

“Recalling the request from the Government of Lebanon to deploy an international force to assist it to exercise its authority throughout the territory and reaffirming UNIFIL’s authority to take all necessary action in areas of operations of its forces and as it deems within its capabilities, to ensure that its area of operations is not utilized for hostile activities of any kind and to resist attempts by forceful means to prevent it from discharging its mandate,

“Welcoming the efforts of the Secretary-General to keep all peacekeeping operations, including UNIFIL, under close review and stressing the need for the Council to pursue a rigorous, strategic approach to peacekeeping deployments,

“Expressing its full support for the strategic priorities and recommendations identified by the Secretary-General in his letter of 12 March 2012 (S/2012/151) as a result of the Strategic Review of UNIFIL, and requesting the Secretary-General to continue updating the Council on the implementation of the Strategic Review,

“Calling upon member States to assist the Lebanese Armed Forces as needed to enable it to perform its duties in line with resolution 1701 (2006),

“Determining that the situation in Lebanon continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security,

“1.   Decides to extend the present mandate of UNIFIL until 31 August 2015;

“2.   Commends the positive role of UNIFIL, whose deployment together with the Lebanese Armed Forces has helped to establish a new strategic environment in southern Lebanon, welcomes the expansion of coordinated activities between UNIFIL and the Lebanese armed forces, and calls for further enhancement of this cooperation;

“3.   Welcomes in this regard the engagement of UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces in the Strategic Dialogue which aims at carrying out analysis of ground forces and maritime assets and setting a series of benchmarks reflecting the correlation between the capacities and responsibilities of UNIFIL vis-à-vis those of the Lebanese Armed Forces, with a view to identifying Lebanese Armed Forces requirements for implementing tasks mandated in resolution 1701 (2006), and, in this regard, is encouraged by the progress made in the formalisation of a regular Strategic Dialogue mechanism between the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL;

“4.   Commends, in this context, the Lebanese Armed Forces for its efforts regarding its wider capabilities development plan, of which the Strategic Dialogue plan forms a separate but integral component, consistent with the relevant recommendations of the Strategic Review, and encourages Member States to support LAF in particular through the established coordination tools of international assistance to build up Lebanese Armed Forces capabilities including through training, as these forces are a central pillar of the country’s stability; and recognizes in this regard the importance of the International Support Group for Lebanon and the related meetings held in Paris and Rome, as well as substantial contributions already made by some donors;

“5.   Strongly calls upon all parties concerned to respect the cessation of hostilities, to prevent any violation of the Blue Line and to respect it in its entirety and to cooperate fully with the United Nations and UNIFIL;

“6.   Welcomes in this regard the constructive role played by the tripartite mechanism in facilitating coordination and in de-escalating tensions and expresses support for the efforts of UNIFIL to engage with both parties to further develop liaison and coordination arrangements;

“7.   Urges all parties to abide scrupulously by their obligation to respect the safety of UNIFIL and other United Nations personnel and to ensure that the freedom of movement of UNIFIL is fully respected and unimpeded, in conformity with its mandate and its rules of engagement including by avoiding any course of action which endangers United Nations personnel, and in this regard, calls for further cooperation between UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces in particular regarding coordinated and adjacent patrols, welcomes the commitment of the Lebanese authorities to protect UNIFIL movements and reiterates its call for the rapid finalization of the investigation launched by Lebanon regarding the 27 May, 26 July and 9 December 2011 attacks in order to bring to justice the perpetrators of these attacks;

“8.   Urges all parties to cooperate fully with the Security Council and the Secretary-General to make tangible progress towards a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution as envisioned in resolution 1701 (2006), and emphasizes that more work remains to be done by the parties to advance the full implementation of resolution 1701 (2006);

“9.   Urges the Government of Israel to expedite the withdrawal of its army from northern Ghajar without further delay in coordination with UNIFIL, which has actively engaged Israel and Lebanon to facilitate such a withdrawal;

“10.  Reaffirms its call on all states to fully support and respect the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani River of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Government of Lebanon and UNIFIL;

“11.  Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by UNIFIL to implement the Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General to continue to take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing countries to take preventive and disciplinary action to ensure that such acts are properly investigated and punished in cases involving their personnel;

“12.  Requests the Secretary-General to continue to report to the Council on the implementation of resolution 1701 (2006), every four months, or at any time as he deems appropriate;

“13.  Stresses the importance of, and the need to achieve, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, based on all its relevant resolutions including its resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 338 (1973) of 22 October 1973, 1515 (2003) of 19 November 2003, and 1850 (2008) of 16 December 2008;

“14.  Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.”

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For information media • not an official record