The spokesperson for UNIFIL Kandice Ardiel confirmed in an interview with LebTalks that "the Mechanism meetings are confidential, and regardless of what was discussed, the recent lebtalks.com/tag/airstrikes/">airstrikes in southern Lebanon occurred in areas that threaten civilian safety and were largely destructive, representing a violation of Resolution 1701 and putting civilians at risk”, explaining that "this type of incident undermines progress toward a political and diplomatic solution”.
Ardiel pointed out that "the Lebanese army is conducting operations to control weapons and illegal infrastructure in southern Litani; it is active in the south, implementing its plan, and provides reports on its progress to the government," emphasizing that "the peacekeeping forces are present to support them”.
She added that UNIFIL had received some information shortly before the start of the lebtalks.com/tag/airstrikes/">airstrikes, which was also publicly shared via social media, so that people would be aware that the lebtalks.com/tag/airstrikes/">airstrikes would occur. She indicated that "the forces sometimes receive information from parties to ensure the safety of the peacekeeping forces if something is going to happen near one of their bases, so that necessary precautions can be taken”.
Ardiel stressed "the necessity for all parties to comply with Resolution 1701," noting that "the peacekeeping forces are unable to prevent any party that seeks to violate the resolution as they cannot take military action," emphasizing that "the main strength of the peacekeeping forces lies in their ability to communicate with the parties and attempt to negotiate to encourage them to use the mechanisms available to them, including the ceasefire monitoring mechanism, which is supposed to resolve a number of these issues”.
She explained that "the peacekeeping forces work to implement Resolution 1701 alongside the Lebanese army to enable them to make progress toward disarming and dismantling illegal infrastructure in the southern Litani region," pointing out that "the army is doing this, and the peacekeeping forces are supporting them."
Regarding what may happen in the near future, Ardiel said: "We work to ensure peacekeeping as much as possible, and I will not predict what will happen in the future. I can only say that the peacekeeping forces work with the army to reduce escalation as much as possible to ensure that people feel safe. The situation is complex and tense, but we are in continuous contact with the parties to ensure the situation is calmed, and this is what we are working on”.