GENEVA, 8th October, 2024 (WAM) -- Janine Blaaschardt, United Nations Special Coordinator, and Major General Aroldo Lázaro, Head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), said, in a joint statement today, that a negotiated solution is the only path to restore the security and stability sought by civilians in southern Lebanon and Israel, emphasising that “the time to act accordingly is now.
The statement highlighted that, one year after the exchange of fire across the Blue Line, numerous people have lost their lives, many have been displaced, and repeated calls for restraint, the protection of civilians, adherence to international humanitarian law, and a return to a cessation of hostilities have gone unheeded.
The UN officials stressed that each bomb dropped and each ground raid conducted moves both parties further from the vision set forth in UN Security Council Resolution 1701 of 2006, as well as from the conditions needed to ensure the lasting security of civilians on both sides of the Blue Line.
The statement underscored that more violence and destruction will not resolve the underlying issues, nor will it make anyone safer in the long term.