The sustained presence of Israeli forces in Lebanese territory, along with continuing strikes, could easily lead to “serious ripple effects", a UN official said on Monday.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN special co-ordinator for Lebanon, said the ceasefire continues to hold but this does not mean that all military activity in Lebanese territory has ceased.
“We urgently need diplomatic and political discussions capable of forging a path to the full implementation of Resolution 1701,” she said, referring to the UN resolution aimed at ending the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.
Ms Hennis-Plasschaert warned that the current situation, exacerbated by differing interpretations of the November 27 truce between Israel and Hezbollah and Resolution 1701, could lead to further conflict.
Under the agreement, Israel had been expected to withdraw from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops in five locations it considers to be “strategic”. The ceasefire also required Hezbollah to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30km from the border, and to dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Lebanese territory since the agreement took effect. Early on Monday, the Lebanese Health Ministry said an Israeli strike in the south had killed two people after the military said it had aimed at Hezbollah militants there.
Lebanon has been seeking international support to boost funding for its military as it gradually posts troops along its porous northern and eastern borders with Syria, and its southern border with Israel.
Ms Hennis-Plasschaert said the Lebanese government was walking a “fine line” in a post-conflict landscape and that it deserved “patience and time”.
“A failure to kick off recovery and reconstruction would come at a high price," she said. "People must see and feel the dividends of stability before they can truly believe in it.”
