News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

Late this afternoon, UNIFIL was informed that two IDF vehicles were attacked south of the Blue Line in the general area of Sheeba Farms. The IDF returned artillery fire in the general area of Kafr Chouba, Abbasiva and Bastara in UNIFIL's area of operations. No casualties were reported to UNIFIL…

2015 has just ended and ten years have almost passed from the adoption of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). The security environment in south Lebanon is strategically different today compared to the situation that existed until 2006, thanks to the combined efforts of UNIFIL, LAF and the…

UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major-General Luciano Portolano today hosted local authorities and religious leaders from south Lebanon at the UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura to convey UNIFIL's wishes for a peaceful 2016 and discuss issues of common concern to UNIFIL and the local…

It's no secret that the primary victims of armed conflict are civilians, in particular women and their children. Yet women are noticeably absent from the subsequent cease fire negotiations and peace agreements. To this end UN Security Council Resolution 1325 was unanimously adopted. The Resolution…

UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major-General Luciano Portolano today called on the Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Minister of Interior Nouhad Machnouk in Beirut. Major-General Portolano briefed his interlocutors on the situation in southern Lebanon…

UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major-General Luciano Portolano today called on Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Samir Moqbel and LAF Commander Jean Kahwaji in separate meetings in Beirut. Major-General Portolano briefed Minister Moqbel and General Kahwaji on UNIFIL’s view of…

When the temperature drops in South Lebanon you really feel it. Particularly in the local schools. Most of these buildings have single glazed windows, and the concrete walls provide no insulation from the wintery chill. Deir Kifa public school is no different. Ahlam Naim, the kindergarten teacher…

On location in South Lebanon Ghifar Charafeddine adjusts the sound on his microphone and recorder as he begins to interview a member of the Lebanese Municipal Police. UNIFIL's Radio Unit are doing a story on police training coordinated by UNIFIL for members of the local police force. Charafeddine…

A rustle of paper accompanies the murmur of friendly conversation in the sewing and hand crafts class at Shabriha in south Lebanon. Today the group of local women are using Napkin Art and Decoupage to decorate small hand mirrors. Decoupage is the creative technique of cutting out and pasting paper…

Morning light floods in to the busy classroom at the Tyre Community School highlighting the brightly coloured squares of paper scattered on each desk. A sense of alert concentration fills the air as Origami expert, Seiko Hatakeyama, shows the young students how to fold a single piece of paper in a…

The body lying on the floor with a mobile phone in his hand looks so realistic that a number of people walking by the unused prefab room take nervous second glances through the window. The dummy is part of a training exercise for members of south Lebanon’s Municipal Police and the room has been…

The Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Major-General Luciano Portolano, today met with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) Commander, General Jean Kahwaji, in Beirut. Major-General Portolano briefed the…