UN peacekeeping chief encouraged by talks toward cease-fire in Lebanon

The U.N. peacekeeping chief says diplomatic efforts toward a cease-fire in Lebanon are “encouraging,” and that the United Nations is working on the role its peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon could play after the Israel-Hezbollah war ends.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who just returned from Lebanon and Israel, told reporters Tuesday that the U.N. is proceeding on the basis that Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, will remain the framework for a settlement .

Key will be the resolution’s demand for Lebanon’s armed forces to deploy throughout the south to assert the country’s sovereignty, Lacroix said.

The resolution calls for U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, to support the implementation of the resolution’s provisions, and Lacroix says he stressed the importance of “genuine political will” to achieve that.

The undersecretary-general for peace operations said he also stressed the importance of UNIFIL’s freedom of movement, which is sometimes limited, and the need to clarify restrictions on peacekeepers entering private property.

Lacroix said the U.N. is also looking at using technology to monitor compliance, and UNIFIL’s potential role in rebuilding and supporting the return of Lebanese people to devastated villages in the south.

There will also be a need for mine-clearing experts in the south and for engineers because many roads have been damaged and destroyed, he said.