During meetings with senior Lebanese officials, the UN representative highlighted the risk of a wider conflagration and called for maximum restraint and the cessation of the current and intensified exchanges of fire across the Blue Line.

During his tour of the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force (Unifil) in Naqoura, Lacroix learned of the latest developments on the situation in the area of ​​operations and along the Blue Line, as well as the mission’s measures to prevent further escalation.

In talks with the Blue Helmets, he stressed the role played by the UNIFIL leadership and its members in ensuring liaison between the parties, mitigating the risk of miscalculation and avoiding further escalation in these difficult times.

At this point, he insisted on intensifying contacts with the authorities of both parties with the aim of encouraging a return to a cessation of confrontation and a new commitment to Resolution 1701 as a path towards a long-term diplomatic solution.

In this regard, he stressed that current events further demonstrate that this resolution is even more relevant now and constitutes the appropriate framework for moving towards a permanent ceasefire.

In this regard, he assured that the UN will continue to support the parties and facilitate any effort to achieve lasting peace and stability along the Blue Line.

The visit by the Assistant Secretary-General for Peace Operations coincided with the Israeli assault on the southern suburb of Beirut on Tuesday, which killed five civilians, the commander of the Lebanese Resistance, Fouad Shukr (Hajj Mohsen), and the Iranian adviser Milad Bedi.

Israel resorted to its terrorist tactics against states or individuals, killing two leaders of the axis of the Resistance in Beirut and Tehran and raising tensions in the Middle East, according to politicians and leaders of the region commenting on the recent events.

ef/oda/yma