UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday demanded a halt to the growing attacks between Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants and Israeli forces and warned that further escalation “carries the high risk of leading to a widespread conflict.”
The council’s 15 members unanimously approved a resolution that urges the “relevant actors” to restore “calm, restraint and stability” across the U.N. drawn boundary between Israel and Lebanon.
The resolution extended the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, which has been in the country since 1978, for another year.
UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion. The U.N. expanded its mission following the 2006 war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Israeli border to help the Lebanese military extend its authority into the country’s south for the first time in decades.
Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon frequently accuse the U.N. mission of collusion with Israel, while Israel has accused the peacekeepers of turning a blind eye to Hezbollah’s military activities in southern Lebanon.
During the ongoing clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL facilities or vehicles have been hit by shelling or gunfire on several occasions. Earlier this month, UNIFIL said three peacekeepers were on patrol were lightly injured when an explosion occurred near their vehicle.