The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Thursday officially handed over a military position to the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon’s Khardali area.
The move comes as part of a broader plan to transfer several longstanding UNIFIL positions to Lebanese army control.
According to the Lebanese National News Agency, the position – located near an army facility in the Khardali-Litani area – was handed over to the Lebanese army’s 7th Brigade.
Despite the handover, UNIFIL said that its peacekeepers – who hail from nearly 50 countries – remain "fully committed” to their mandate in southern Lebanon, where they continue to maintain a visible presence.
"Civilians bear the heaviest burden when conflict disrupts daily life,” UNIFIL said in a statement, adding that local residents continue to face "uncertainty, displacement and concerns for their safety.”
According to the peacekeeping force, its ongoing efforts to reduce tensions and prevent misunderstandings have helped prevent further escalation.
"Instability is not in anyone’s interest,” it said, urging all parties to renew their commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and refrain from taking any actions that could increase tensions.
Thursday’s handover comes in line with a U.N. Security Council decision to end UNIFIL’s mission in Lebanon by the end of this year.
It also comes amid efforts to implement security arrangements linked to a "framework agreement” signed between Lebanon and Israel in late June.
The agreement calls for Israel’s gradual withdrawal from Lebanese territory that it occupied earlier to allow the Lebanese military to deploy in those areas.
In reference to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the agreement also calls for the disarmament of "armed groups.”
UNIFIL’s mandate in southern Lebanon is set to expire at the end of this year amid ongoing discussions over the future of the peacekeeping force’s mission.
UNIFIL has been deployed in southern Lebanon since 1978 in line with U.N. Security Council resolutions that grant it a mandate to ensure the cessation of hostilities and maintain security in the area.
