UN Warns Lebanon Truce to Remain ‘Fragile’ for Months

A United Nations envoy has warned that the latest truce deal in Lebanon is likely to remain “fragile” for months to come.

|PIC1|Terje Roed-Larsen commented on the current situation in the Middle East region as he visited Jerusalem for talks with the Israeli government.

Currently the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has lasted just 10-days, and the UN has said that an international force is urgently needed for this to remain.

However, as the truce nears its two-week mark, there have been very few significant offers of troops, and the EU is now planning a meeting today to try and secure further promises of contributions to a UN force.

At present 15,000 Lebanese soldiers are being deployed mainly to southern Lebanon, joining an existing force of some 2,000 UN peacekeepers. But the ceasefire has been strained by various skirmishes and an Israeli commando raid deep inside Lebanon.

Mr Roed-Larsen reported to Reuters: “There is now a security vacuum which the Lebanese government is trying to fill” with the help of international forces. But I think realistically, up to a point, you will have such a vacuum in Lebanon for the next two, three months.”

|TOP|He continued, “The situation is still extremely fragile... Unintended incidents can kick off renewed violence, which might escalate and spin out of control.”

Representatives from European Union member states are set to meet in Brussels on Wednesday to try to establish which countries are willing to contribute to the force, and Italy has succeeded in a call for an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers to be held on Friday.

Italy said Tuesday it would contribute up to 3,000 troops, about one third of the European contribution, to a United Nations force for Lebanon provided Israel did not violate the truce.

|AD|Since the ceasefire was put in place, Israel has clashed several times with alleged Hezbollah fighters, resulting in several deaths. The UN has also expressed concern about Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace. But Israel has responded by saying that such actions are defensive.

Although Turkey has stated its willingness to contribute to the UN force, it has expressed its concerns that the force’s mandate remains unclear. However, the US has rejected calls for an immediate new UN resolution to lay down more precise terms for the force, with UN envoy John Bolton saying the priority is to get a force on the ground.

Lebanon, continues to be face the full force of a sea and air blockade imposed by Israel, with the exception of a limited number of flights, including aid and diplomatic missions. In a meeting with the UN's Mr Roed-Larsen on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the stationing of UN troops along Lebanon's border with Syria to stop the smuggling of arms to Hezbollah would allow it to lift the blockade.

But Syrian President Bashar al-Assad immediately rejected the proposal, saying if that were to happen, it would interpret the actions as a "hostile act".