UNIFIL: What is the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon?
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00:00The UN, with five of its peacekeepers wounded by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon since
00:05Thursday, has expressed concern about the safety of the personnel deployed there.
00:10The UN Interim Force in Lebanon was created in 1978 in the wake of the first incursion
00:15of Israeli forces into Lebanon.
00:18The UNIFIL mission is based in Nakara in the far south of the country.
00:23Its aim was to ensure the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the region and to help the Lebanese
00:27government re-establish its authority.
00:29It has, since 2006, also been monitoring a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war between
00:35Israel and Hezbollah.
00:37UNIFIL, in April of this year, was made up of just under 10,000 military personnel, accounting
00:42for almost 10% of all UN peacekeepers worldwide.
00:46The mission employs Lebanese civilians, including interpreters, as well as civilians from elsewhere.
00:52The largest contingent of forces is from Indonesia, with over 1,200 personnel.
00:57India, Ghana, Nepal, Italy, Malaysia, Spain, France, China and Ireland also contribute.
01:05UNIFIL's role, above all, is to observe.
01:07It has neither the vocation nor the means to intervene militarily.