UN chief: UNIFIL has discovered 100 Hezbollah weapons caches in southern Lebanon since the start of the truce

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that UN peacekeepers have discovered more than “100 weapons caches” belonging to Hezbollah and its allies in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire. – November 27 fire between Israel and the terrorist group.

Guterres, speaking near the Israeli border, and French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking in Beirut, also called on Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon.

Guterres reiterated that under the November 27 agreement, Lebanese government forces and UNIFIL peacekeepers are the only parties authorized to bear arms in Lebanon, south of the Litani River, approximately 30 kilometers from the border with Israel.

In an apparent reference to Israel and Hezbollah, Guterres said the “presence of armed personnel, assets and weapons” in southern Lebanon – other than those of the Lebanese army and peacekeeping force of UNIFIL – would “undermine the stability of Lebanon” and also violate the UN. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

Guterres, speaking during a visit to UNIFIL headquarters in Naqura, southern Lebanon, near the Israeli border, said Israeli operations inside Lebanon “must stop.”

“Israel’s (military) continued occupation inside the UNIFIL area of ​​operations and the conduct of military operations on Lebanese territory constitute violations of Resolution 1701,” said Guterres, who also met Macron on Friday in Beirut.

Israel said its operations in southern Lebanon were a response to ceasefire violations by Hezbollah and accused UNIFIL and the Lebanese army of failing to implement Resolution 1701 and the November 27 agreement.

Under the terms of the agreement, the IDF must hand over all its positions in southern Lebanon to Lebanese forces and UNIFIL within 60 days, before January 26. At the same time, Hezbollah must withdraw north of the Litani.

The agreement, which ended nearly 14 months of war, allows Israel to act against imminent threats from Hezbollah, while less imminent threats must be referred to a five-member committee including representatives from the United States. United, France, Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL.

Macron, whose government helped negotiate the deal, called on Israel on Friday to accelerate the withdrawal of its troops from southern Lebanon.

“We need a total withdrawal of the Israeli army,” Macron said, speaking in Beirut alongside Lebanon’s new president, Joseph Aoun, who also stressed “the importance of consolidating the ceasefire.” fire (Israel-Hezbollah) and the withdrawal of Israel”, according to a message from the Lebanese presidency.

Macron said France supported “the increased power of the Lebanese armed forces and their deployment in the south.”

“The Lebanese Armed Forces constitute a pillar of Lebanon’s sovereignty,” Macron added.

He also welcomed Aoun’s election, saying it represented the possibility of a new path for Lebanon and that “the true and authentic Lebanon has returned.”

Macron is the first foreign head of state to visit Lebanon since Aoun’s election, backed by France, the United States and Saudi Arabia. As a former French protectorate, Beirut maintains strong historical ties with Paris.

Aoun had led the army until the Lebanese parliament elected him head of state on January 9, ending a two-year vacancy.

Aoun’s appointment marked a shift in the balance of power in Lebanon after Iran-backed Hezbollah was deeply weakened by its war with Israel.

The new president has pledged to maintain the Lebanese government’s monopoly on the right to bear arms – a thinly veiled threat against Hezbollah, the only group in Lebanon that refused to surrender its weapons to the state after the war civil service from 1975-1990.

Aoun’s election was followed this week by the appointment of the head of the International Court of Justice, Nawaf Salam, as prime minister, against the wishes of Hezbollah, which wanted outgoing President Najib Mikati to remain in the post. .

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah came two months after the IDF invaded southern Lebanon to stem persistent rocket fire that had forced the displacement of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.

Without provocation, Hezbollah began attacking Israel on a near-daily basis on October 8, 2023 – a day after the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hamas launched a thousands-strong attack on southern Israel over from which they killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.