United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon briefs Security Council

“Cautious optimism, Madam President, is the flavour of the day.” 

These were the words of the Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, who briefed the United Nations Security Council on the implementation of resolution 1701 this morning. She used them to synopsize the recent government formation process in Lebanon, welcoming both the promising ministerial agenda adopted, while noting that Lebanon’s protracted leadership vacuum had left the country’s new administration with just over one year to tackle a series of daunting challenges. 

Speaking alongside Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Special Coordinator provided the Council with an overview of the security situation in the country. While noting that the cessation of hostilities continued to hold, she added that this did not mean that all military activity on Lebanese territory had ceased. Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert further explained that the sustained presence of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Lebanese territory, alongside ongoing strikes, could easily lead to “serious ripple effects” on the Lebanese side of the Blue Line. “We urgently need diplomatic and political discussions capable of forging a path to the full implementation of resolution 1701,” she stressed, warning that the status quo, fuelled in part by clashes in the interpretation of the November Understanding and resolution 1701 or “cherry-picking” from among their provisions, would only end in another conflagration. The Special Coordinator went on to note that recent momentum towards such discussions provided a “glimmer of hope”. 

While highlighting positive developments in southern Lebanon, including the “admirable job” of the Lebanese Armed Forces in deploying to all towns and villages in southern Lebanon, as well as the February decision of the IDF Home Front Command to lift remaining restrictions on Israel’s northern frontier, she acknowledged that a climate of fear persisted on both sides of the Blue Line. In this context, Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert also noted that the Lebanese Government was walking a “fine line” in a post-conflict landscape and that it deserved “both patience and time”. 

Noting the yawning gaps in international funding for Lebanon, the Special Coordinator stated: “A failure to kick off recovery and reconstruction would come at a high price. People must see and feel the dividends of stability before they can truly believe in it.”