UN peacekeepers stay on Lebanon’s border [Video]

UN peacekeepers are staying in their positions on Lebanon’s southern border despite Israel’s request to vacate some areas before it launched its ground operation against Hezbollah militants, the UN peacekeeping chief said Thursday.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the commander and liaison officers from the UN force, known as UNIFIL, also are in constant contact with their counterparts in the Israeli and Lebanese militaries. He called that key to protecting the UN’s more than 10,000 peacekeepers.

The UN force is “the only channel of communications between the parties,” he told reporters. “The peacekeepers are also working with partners to do what they can to protect the population.”

UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion. The UN expanded its mission following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Israeli border.

A UN Security Council resolution ending that …