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.

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