- Title: MIDEAST-ISRAEL/LEBANON-UNIFIL Israel-Lebanon situation stable - UNIFIL
- Date: 29th January 2015
- Summary: NAQOURA, LEBANON (JANUARY 29, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPERS' BASE WITH U.N. MARKED VEHICLES PARKED OUTSIDE VARIOUS OF U.N. AND MEMBER STATES' FLAGS FLYING AT THE U.N. BASE UNIFIL SPOKESMAN, ANDREA TENENTI, WORKING IN HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESMAN FOR THE UNITED NATIONS INTERIM FORCE IN LEBANON, ANDREA TENENTI, SAYING: "Today, after the
- Embargoed: 13th February 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Lebanon
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA5FULOZP44Z240TY5ED79VZEJ6
- Story Text: The U.N.'s peacekeeping force in Lebanon said the situation on the border between Israel and Lebanon was stable on Thursday (January 29), following a rare flare-up in fighting between Hezbollah and the Jewish state.
Israel said it had received a message from UNIFIL that Hezbollah was not interested in further escalation.
UNIFIL spokesman, Andrea Tenenti, also confirmed that the situation was calm.
"Today, after the serious incidents occurred yesterday, which was also a serious violation of Security Council resolution 1701, UNIFIL force commander and head of mission, Major General Portolano, was in contact with the parties, in close contact with the parties, throughout the day 24/7. We kept an open channel of communication, which is still open now and it is always open, in order to ask the parties to exercise maximum restraint and to ensure that the security situation in the south was reestablished and is stable at the moment," he said.
A salvo of Hezbollah guided missiles killed an Israeli infantry major and a conscript soldier as they rode in unmarked civilian vehicles along the Lebanese border on Wednesday (January 28).
Israel then launched an artillery and air barrage, and a Spanish peacekeeper was killed. Spain's ambassador to the U.N. blamed the Israeli fire for his death.
Tenenti said the incident was still being investigated.
"The UNIFIL, our mission lost one Spanish peacekeeper. The circumstances of this incident, of the killing of the Spanish peacekeeper, are still under investigation. We launched an investigation and we are looking into that. (It is) important once again to emphasise what the mission is doing at the moment which is to keep the situation quiet and to preserve stability. And at the moment, the situation is quiet," he said.
The flare-up was the most serious clash on that border since 2006, when Hezbollah and Israel fought a 34-day war.
On Thursday, the frontier was quiet, though Lebanese media reported overflights by Israeli air force drones.
Both sides appear to share an interest in avoiding further escalation.
Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which fought Israel to a standstill in 2006, is busy backing Damascus in Syria's civil war. It may also be mindful of the ruin Israel has threatened to wreak on Lebanon should they again enter a full-on conflict.
Israel is gearing up for a March 17 general election and gauging the costs of its offensive on the Gaza Strip last year against Palestinian guerrillas, whose rocket arsenal is dwarfed by Hezbollah's powerful long-range rockets. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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