In South Lebanon, a project to install surveillance cameras panics Hezbollah

For the past ten days, it has not been the almost daily Israeli overflights that have most worried the population in southern Lebanon, but the new decision taken by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to set up a more effective surveillance system in the region. As soon as it was announced, this measure decided in the highest spheres of the UN, in New York, provoked an outcry from the inhabitants of the South, supported or even encouraged by Hezbollah, which categorically refuses that the rules of the game are modified on a territory that he considers to be his preserve. In Kfarkila, as in other villages along the border with Israel, residents, supported by local authorities, came out to protest against this initiative in mid-April. “We consider it a provocation,” the president of the municipality of Mayss el-Jabal, Abdel Menhem Choucair, told OLJ. The protest movement forced UNIFIL to temporarily suspend the project, the time to find an agreement with the local population, but also and above all with Hezbollah, the main decision-maker on the ground.

Present in Lebanon since 1978, UNIFIL has some 10,500 Blue Helmets. It has been monitoring the Lebanese-Israeli border since 2006 in coordination with the Lebanese army and ensures the application of UN Security Council resolution 1701, adopted after the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. installation of cameras had already been discussed in New York in June 2020, approximately two months before the renewal of UNIFIL's mandate", explains the spokesperson for the UN Force, Andrea Tenenti. In August 2020, heated debates took place in the Security Council, since some members, in particular the United States, were not in favor of extending the mandate of the Blue Helmets. Washington largely finances the mission and refuses to allow it to continue if its means are not reinforced. The Trump administration, in power at the time, wanted to toughen its policy towards Hezbollah. “What is the use of UNIFIL if we are in the scenario of “business as usual” and that Hezbollah continues to have almost total room for maneuver in this region? asks the retired officer, General Khalil Hélou. According to him, the American administration no longer wants to pay for anything, in any case more to pay without guarantee of a more effective application of resolution 1701 and its corollary, resolution 1559, which evokes, in the medium term, the disarmament of all Lebanese militias, including Hezbollah.

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The Security Council ended up extending the mandate of the multinational forces unanimously, at provided that certain means made available to the Blue Helmets are reviewed and corrected, so as to make their mission more effective. The Council referred to an evaluation report of the UN mission prepared upstream, in June 2020, by the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres and adopted in March 2021. This document, which OLJ was able to consult, recommends in particular the use of more sophisticated technology such as thermal cameras, night vision binoculars and drones. Only cameras and binoculars were retained, according to a UN source, the idea of ​​drones having been abandoned along the way, probably for the same reasons that aroused the paranoia of the Shiite party.

Unilateral decision?

In circles close to Hezbollah, suspicion is at its height and anyone who wants to listen is assured that the project will not pass. The case has already created controversy while the equipment has not even been purchased to date, according to information obtained by L'Orient-Le Jour. The Shia party suggests that the decision was taken unilaterally and without the consent of the army. However, UNIFIL claims that not only the army was informed, but also all Lebanese officials, since a UN delegation had traveled to Lebanon when the report was being drawn up. Even the head of parliament, Nabih Berry, had been informed of this, the report reads. Hezbollah disputes this version of the facts and accuses UNIFIL of having acted as it pleased. A source close to the party denies to L'OLJ that the commander-in-chief of the army, General Joseph Aoun, was informed.

On the UNIFIL side, it is said that these apprehensions are not justified. “This new equipment will only be used in non-residential areas along the blue line. It will be intended to provide the military with slightly more sophisticated technology, which will allow them on the one hand to better protect themselves and on the other hand to carry out their observation mission more effectively, ”says Andrea Tenenti. "The installation of cameras is important to allow us to carry out our investigations seriously when the incidents occur in a place where we have no presence", he adds, referring to the series of incidents which occurred at the border, some of which may have been extremely alarming. This was particularly the case during the incident last July when clashes took place on both sides of the border, without it being possible to understand what the real cause was. Israel then spoke of an “attempt at terrorist infiltration” immediately denied by Hezbollah.

“It is a service to Israel. Everything else is bullshit »

Since 2017, UNIFIL has had to deal with several incidents which, underlines the evaluation report, have affected the freedom of movement of its units and restricted their access to several areas. "We have no mandate to monitor the interior of villages or private residences", recalled, on April 11, the commander-in-chief of UNIFIL, General Stephano Del Col. But nothing helps. For Hezbollah, the cameras respond to a spy mission. An opinion that the media close to the formation have already widely conveyed. If the communication office of the Shiite party refuses to officially comment on the affair, in its close circles the apprehension of the latter and of the population of the South in general is echoed. For the president of the municipality of Mayss el-Jabal, these cameras are "an invasion of the privacy of residents and local customs". A Hezbollah relative, who wished to remain anonymous, also accuses the Multinational Force of having flown drones in the region under its supervision. “The army immediately notified them, explaining to them how sensitive this subject is,” the source said. "Israel has already installed on the side adjacent to Nakoura a surveillance system including cameras and listening equipment that is far more sophisticated than the cameras that the peacekeeping troop intends to install," said the Hezbollah aide. Except that the party of God is convinced that UNIFIL is in collusion with Israel and is working to provide it with the additional information that the Jewish state needs. “It is a service to Israel. Everything else is talk, ”said an analyst close to the Shiite party, who wished to remain anonymous.

As a reminder

Tensions between a UNIFIL patrol and residents in the south

For some time, "residents have increasingly questioned the impartiality of UNIFIL, which affects the mission in a negative way", one can still read in the UN report. However, and this is where things get complicated, the army, which remains an essential intermediary on the chessboard of relations between the various actors in southern Lebanon and the privileged interlocutor with Hezbollah, has not published any clarification to date, leaving the way open to all sorts of interpretations. Forced to cooperate with the UN Force while protecting its relationship with the Shiite party, the troop tries to get out of the game by looking for a viable solution for everyone. According to information obtained by OLJ, talks are currently taking place between representatives of the military institution, UNIFIL and Hezbollah to find a solution. While some insist that the army can only fulfill its obligations towards UNIFIL, a source close to the UN organization recalls that the mission of the multinational force was concluded under chapter VI and not under Chapter VII, which is much more restrictive. "Therefore, nothing can be done without the agreement of the authorities in place," summarizes the source.