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United Nations peacekeepers say they'll stay in southern Lebanon, even as Israel's raids of Hezbollah strongholds puts them at risk. The Israelis blame the U.N. force for failing to keep Hezbollah weapons and fighters out of a part of the Lebanese south between the Israeli border and the Litani River, a key part of the peacekeepers' mandate. As NPR's Michele Kelemen reports, the force has been there for decades.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: Jeffrey Feltman was U.S. ambassador to Lebanon during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. That's when the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 1701, to give U.N. peacekeepers that had been in the country for nearly three decades a new mandate.
JEFFREY FELTMAN: 1701 was designed expressly to bring about the cease-fire of the 2006 war and to give the Israelis the ability to tell themselves, OK, we can leave southern Lebanon.
KELEMEN: Because there would be a stronger and larger U.N. force, known as UNIFIL, there to help the Lebanese Armed Forces keep control of the area near the border with Israel. But there were problems from the start. Hezbollah moved back in quickly, and UNIFIL was operating under what's known as Chapter VI of the U.N. Charter, not Chapter VII, which gives peacekeepers the authority to act on their own militarily to enforce the mandate. Condoleezza Rice was secretary of state at the time, and Feltman says she had to compromise, facing opposition from the government in Lebanon.
FELTMAN: Condoleezza Rice used to call it Chapter 6.5, you know, because of all the strong language. But the bottom line is it's not Chapter VII, meaning there's no enforcement mechanism.
KELEMEN: Feltman, who later worked as a top U.N. official, doesn't fault UNIFIL for its mandate.
FELTMAN: But what I do blame UNIFIL for was its mealymouthed reporting on what Hezbollah was up to.
KELEMEN: Now Israel is conducting what it says are limited raids into southern Lebanon, to clear out Hezbollah fighters and destroy the rockets they've accumulated there. David Daoud of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies says in a way, the Israelis are taking it upon themselves to enforce Resolution 1701.
DAVID DAOUD: Given that these terms have not been implemented at all - and it's not like it's been, you know, one year or six months; it's been 18 years; it's a lifetime - and there's no foreseeable credible enforcement mechanism, the Israelis, as the victim state of Hezbollah's attacks, may be entitled to act as the enforcers.
KELEMEN: The Israelis have been calling on U.N. peacekeepers to move out of the way. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he had to protest after Israeli troops positioned themselves a few meters away from a base staffed by Irish and Polish peacekeepers. Now he says the Israelis have left that area.
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ANTONIO GUTERRES: And I strongly appeal - strongly appeal - to both parties to fully respect the safety and security of UNIFIL.
KELEMEN: Across Lebanon, there are 10,000 U.N. peacekeepers from 50 countries, and there are many positions along the so-called blue line that are in the crosshairs of Israeli troops and Hezbollah.
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GUTERRES: The men and women of UNIFIL are serving in what is today the most challenging environment for peacekeepers anywhere.
KELEMEN: U.N. officials say they play an important role in coordinating between the Israeli military and the Lebanese Armed Forces, who are protecting aid convoys and evacuation routes for civilians. But Feltman says the Israelis no longer see the U.N. as the answer to their concerns.
FELTMAN: There has to be something different about the way this war ends than in 2006. I don't think it will be a new resolution, but it can't be simply UNIFIL, because the Israelis won't accept that now.
KELEMEN: The U.S, though, still sees UNIFIL as part of the solution to this latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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