More progress needed after end of Israel-Hizbollah war: UN Envoy

New York, July 15 : The UN Security Council resolution that this week ended the war between Israel and Lebanese group Hizbollah, which began four years ago, has helped to ensure stability. However, the parties must do more to meet their commitments, a senior United Nations official said on Wednesday.

"Stated commitment is good, implementation in practice is better," UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams told reporters following his closed-door briefing to the Council.

He said he welcomed the continued commitment of all parties to the full implementation of resolution 1701, which ended the conflict that erupted in 2006, as well as calls for respect for the so-called Blue Line separating the Israeli and Lebanese sides, the disarming of all militias operating in Lebanon and an end to arms smuggling in the area.

"But I also told the Council that all parties must do far more to meet their obligations," he said, echoing what Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote in his latest report on the implementation of resolution 1701, which was made public on Tuesday.

In his report, Ban stated that a number of violations occurred during the past several months and that "no progress was recorded with regard to key obligations" under the resolution.

The Secretary-General stressed that it is the responsibility of the parties to focus on all outstanding issues so that they can reach a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution, as envisaged in the resolution. "At the moment, they are not doing enough in this regard,"
he said.

Williams, who briefed the 15-member body on the report, noted that the arrangements put in place by the resolution have allowed the longest period of stability between the parties since the 1970s.

"No one on either side of the Blue Line has been killed by hostile military action from the other side in the past four years."

He added that the presence of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon and its cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has been the "backbone" of everything that has been achieved under resolution 1701.

UNIFIL personnel have recently been the target of protests and attacks by villagers in southern Lebanon in response to routine military exercises carried out by the mission. Both the Special Coordinator and the Council have called for ensuring the safety and freedom of movement of the peacekeepers in their area of operations, which is
critical for discharging their mandate.