Lebanon's prime minister visited United Nations peacekeepers in the country's south near the border with Israel on Wednesday, describing the presence of the force in the volatile area as a necessity.
The visit by Prime Minister Hassan Diab comes against the backdrop of a war of words between Israeli and Lebanese officials, including the Hezbollah terrorist group, over the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. UNIFIL has been deployed in southern Lebanon since 1978.
Israel is calling for major changes in the way the mission in southern Lebanon operates on the ground, demanding that it have access to all sites and freedom of movement and that it report back to the Security Council if it is being blocked.
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Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said late Tuesday that Lebanon will not accept a change of mandate for UNIFIL to allow it to raid and search areas, calling it a violation of the country's sovereignty. Nasrallah said the US is pressuring Lebanon to accept such a change.
"They want to reduce UNIFIL numbers? Go ahead. Increase them? Go ahead," Nasrallah said, adding if they also want to leave it will be no problem. "But we consider expanding its mandate an infringement on Lebanese sovereignty."
Diab said the presence of the troops was "necessary and urgent" in light of the ongoing "violations by Israel of Lebanon's sovereignty by land, sea and air."
The quibble over the UNIFIL mandate comes up every year before the mandate is renewed in the summer.
Israel has repeatedly accused Iranian-backed Hezbollah of impeding the peacekeepers from carrying out their mandate.
UNIFIL includes more than 9,400 ground troops and over 850 naval personnel in a Maritime Task Force.
