What exactly is UNIFIL suppose to be doing?

LOTL..
17 June '13..

While almost anyone who has invested the time to check into it realized some time ago, UNIFIL survives solely through the goodwill of Hezbollah, and today's piece in the Al-Monitor, UNIFIL's Uncertain Future, couldn't be more explicit. Pathetic, silly or both, probably both, Jean-Loup Samaan gives us a look at the UNIFIL force in South Lebanon today, a picture that should surely strip away whatever illusions one might have had about the viability of international forces along Israel's borders.

...Today, however, the elements that helped UNIFIL successfully perform its mission are threatened. The first issue putting its operations at risk is the increasingly visible assertiveness of Hezbollah vis-à-vis peacekeepers in the south. As a French official in the Ministry of Defense reminded Al-Monitor, “UNIFIL heavily relies on cooperation with Hezbollah. There is no way it could perform its mission without this form of tacit coexistence.”

The arrangements UNIFIL has had to make with Hezbollah in some south Lebanese villages have been well documented over the years. In addition, UNIFIL officers have been aware of Hezbollah's military build-up in the area, a fait accompli contravening the idea of UN Resolution 1701 and its establishment “between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL deployed in this area.” Still, pragmatism was allowed to prevail, and an implicit division of labor agreed to according to which UNIFIL forces monitored certain areas while Hezbollah maintained its guard over others.

This compromise worked well until late 2011, when numerous cases arose of the Party of God interfering with the UN force’s activities. For instance, UNIFIL officers recorded patrols being blocked in areas where they previously had experienced no resistance. The assertiveness of Hezbollah in the south was not new by any measure, but the scale was. This disregard of the UNIFIL-Hezbollah agreement may be Hezbollah’s way of reminding UNIFIL as well as Israel that despite its engagement in Syria, its forces are not being diverted from south Lebanon. (Click here to read full piece.)

Pretty much says it all. And now with thousands of rockets implanted throughout southern Lebanon somebody should probably let Tzipi Livni know that her UN Resolution 1701 hasn't really worked out all that well either.

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook.

.