ReportWire

Tag: Stéphane Dujarric

  • UNIFIL says Israeli wall crosses de facto Lebanon border

    [ad_1]

    The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon reportedly informed the IDF that the wall made nearly an acre of land inaccessible to the local population.

    A survey conducted by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon last month found that a wall built by the Israeli military crosses the Blue Line, the de facto border, a UN spokesperson said on Friday

    The Blue Line is a UN-mapped line separating Lebanon from Israel and the Golan Heights.

    Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said the concrete T-wall erected by the IDF has made more than 4,000 square meters (nearly an acre) of Lebanese territory inaccessible to the local population.

    A section of an additional wall, which has also crossed the Blue Line, is being erected southeast of Yaroun, he said, citing the peacekeepers.

    UNIFIL requested the removal of the wall

    Dujarric said UNIFIL informed the Israeli military of its findings and requested that the wall be removed.

    UN PEACEKEEPERS (UNIFIL) are seen in southern Lebanon from the Israeli side of the border, earlier this week. (credit: AYAL MARGOLIN/FLASH90)

    “Israeli presence and construction in Lebanese territory are violations of Security Council resolution 1701 and of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” UNIFIL said in a separate statement.

    An Israeli military spokesperson denied the wall crossed the Blue Line.

    “The wall is part of a broader IDF plan whose construction began in 2022. Since the start of the war, and as part of lessons learned from it, the IDF has been advancing a series of measures, including reinforcing the physical barrier along the northern border,” the spokesperson said.

    UNIFIL, established in 1978, operates between the Litani River in the north and the Blue Line in the south. The mission has more than 10,000 troops from 50 countries and about 800 civilian staff, according to its website.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Guterres concerned over deteriorating situation in Sudan’s El Fasher

    [ad_1]

    United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has expressed dismay at “the rapidly deteriorating situation” in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur State.

    Guterres’ spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement on Saturday that civilians continue to bear the brunt of the devastating conflict raging in the country.

    The statement came a day after at least 70 people were killed when a mosque was attacked in the besieged city, the last remaining capital controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces.

    The army said the attack had been carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been fighting the military for power of the country since April 2023.

    “With El Fasher having been under a tightening siege by the Rapid Support Forces for more than 500 days, attacks affecting civilians have further intensified in recent weeks, with the majority of the residents of the Abu Shouk displacement camp reportedly having been forced to flee due to relentless shelling and raids,” Dujarric said.

    “The fighting must stop now.”

    In a special report released on Thursday, the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) said that El Fasher appears to be falling to the RSF and that the group likely controls the Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced people.

    It said that it made its assessment based on the fact that RSF is using advanced weaponry and that the military does not have sufficient forces and supplies to defend the city.

    “The results of RSF’s capture and control of Abu Shouk IDP Camp and encirclement of El Fasher have already proven catastrophic for civilians,” the report read.

    [ad_2]

    Source link