(ANSAMed) – BEIRUT, FEBRUARY 08 – With “an act of courage” the Lebanese and Israeli authorities can start an unprecedented “peace process” involving the Middle East starting from southern Lebanon: this is the hope expressed today by the Italian general Stefano Del Col, whose mandate expires at the end of the month after almost 4 years spent as commander and head of mission of the UN contingent (Unifil), deployed in Lebanon close to the Blue Line demarcation with Israel.
The Spanish general Aroldo Lazaro Saenz has been appointed successor of Del Col in recent days. which has been present in the region since 1978, were expanded following the war between Israel and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006.
“The beginning of my mandate was not easy,” Del Col recalls during a conversation with ANSA from his office at the Naqura base, Unifil headquarters in the far south of the country.
His assignment began in August 2018: “As soon as I arrived I had to address the issue of Hezbollah’s underground tunnels which, in three cases, violated the Blue Line. And this triggered the Israeli military operation.”
“Right from the start I did everything to ensure that the situation in southern Lebanon was sufficiently stable – says Del Col – to give space to the parties to dialogue politically and effectively”. To maintain this stability, he says, first of all we need to “avoid violations” of the Blue Line, that line drawn in 2000 after Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon after more than twenty years of occupation. Almost every day Israel violates Lebanese airspace, and periodically there are rocket launches from Lebanese territory towards Israel. “To avoid violations, greater control of the Blue Line is needed”, insists the Italian general, who recalls that this is not, however, an internationally recognized border. There are in fact thirteen points along the Blue Line where the Lebanese authorities and the Lebanese Shiite Armed Party Hezbollah pro-Iran do not recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli presence. The situation remains in a precarious balance. “Now I am leaving southern Lebanon stable – says Del Col – but it would take an act of courage to better define the Blue Line and thus give a signal of hope to the populations of both areas so that there can be a peace process. This does not depend on Unifil but on the leadership of the respective countries ”, he says.
Source: Ansa
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