UNSC Renews Mandate of UN Peacekeeping in Golan

UNDOF peacekeepers patrol Golan Heights.

New York, 6 Shawwal 1438/30 June 2017 (MINA) – UN Security Council (UNSC) renewed on Thursday the mandate of UN peacekeeping operations that monitors the ceasefire between Israel and Syrian forces in the Golan.

The 15-member body unanimously adopted resolution 2361 extending the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) mandate for a period of six-months, which is until December 31, 2017, requesting the Secretary General to ensure that the force has the required capacity and resources to fulfil the mandate in a safe and secure way.

The Council stressed the obligation on both parties to “scrupulously and fully” respect the terms of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, and called on them to exercise maximum restraint and prevent any breaches of the ceasefire and the area of separation.

They also encouraged the parties to take advantage of UNDOF’s liaison function regularly to address issues of mutual concern, as appropriate, and underscored that there should be no military activity of any kind in the area of separation, including military operations by the Syrian Arab Armed Forces.

Further, the resolution underlined that there should be no military activity of the armed opposition groups in the area of separation, and urged Member States to convey “strongly to the Syrian armed opposition groups in UNDOF’s area of operations to halt all activities that endanger United Nations peacekeepers on tile ground and to accord the United Nations personnel on the ground the freedom to carry out their mandate safely and securely.”

The Russian-US drafted resolution strongly condemned the continued fighting in the area of separation, calling on all parties to the Syrian domestic conflict to cease military actions in the UNDOF area of operations and to respect international humanitarian law. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)