UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is concerned over the recent conflict escalation in south Lebanon and within the area of operations of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the UN chief's spokesman said Thursday at a daily briefing.
Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have entered a new round of clashes since March 2. Despite a ceasefire agreement in April, Israel has continued to carry out strikes in southern Lebanon.
UN peacekeepers have continued to monitor developments in the region closely, according to Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for the UN secretary-general.
"UNIFIL peacekeepers report that so far today, 143 trajectories of projectiles were observed, of these 119 were attributed to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), with the remainder to Hezbollah. Yesterday, 364 projectile launches were observed, of which 330 were attributed to the IDF and 34 to Hezbollah. UNIFIL also reported 38 violations of Lebanese airspace yesterday, but none today, within its area of operations," he said.
In response, a high-level UN delegation, including the UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Diodato Abagnara, visited Beirut on Wednesday, where they held meetings with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri, emphasizing their commitment to the Security Council Resolution 1701, said Dujarric.
"General Abagnara stressed that UNIFIL remains committed to supporting, in close coordination with the Lebanese Armed Forces, the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, which continues to be the framework, as you well know, for restoring stability and security in south Lebanon," he said.
The UN will also allocate 12 million U.S. dollars to help local people access healthcare and protection from gender-based violence, as well as to address the growing food insecurity, said the chief spokesman.
"Tom Fletcher, our emergency relief coordinator, announced an additional 12 million dollars from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to help hundreds of thousands of people uprooted in Lebanon by the conflict," he said.
UN chief is concerned over conflict escalation in south Lebanon: spokesman
