Lebanon relieved after Paris introduces amendments to UNIFIL resolution

Relative relief engulfed Beirut overnight after Paris introduced amendments to the draft resolution that will renew the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), media reports said.

The draft “was written in blue ink, which means that it will be referred to the Security Council for a vote in the coming hours,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

“The resolution that is expected to be issued by the Security Council tomorrow does not drop the paragraph that grants the U.N. force freedom of movement in its deployment areas, but it includes a settlement with Lebanon by emphasizing on ‘coordination’ between the U.N. forces and the Lebanese government, although for the sake of clarity it should have directly mentioned that the movement should be coordinated in advance with the Lebanese Army,” informed sources told the daily.

The draft also expresses the U.N. Security Council’s concern over Israel’s continued occupation of the northern part of the Ghajar village and the outskirts of the town of al-Mari and calls on Israel to speed up the withdrawal of its army from that region.