"The Trump administration is seeking to expand the mandate of U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon so they investigate any violations by the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah on the shared border with Israel.
Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Monday that she would look for 'significant improvements' to the role of the peacekeepers. The U.N. Security Council is to vote on a renewal of the U.N. unit known as the U.N. interim force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, later in August.
The U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week expressed a desire for peacekeepers to keep an eye on the presence of 'armed personnel, weapons or infrastructure' where it operates. Israel says that Hezbollah keeps many of its fighters and weapons arsenal in the villages of southern Lebanon near its border.
'We share the secretary-general's strong desire to enhance UNIFIL's efforts to prevent the spread of illegal arms in southern Lebanon,' said Haley in a statement.
'These arms-which are almost entirely in the hands of Hezbollah terrorists-threaten the security and stability of the region,' she continued. 'UNIFIL must increase its capacity and commitment to investigating and reporting these violations.'...
Israel is concerned that Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian conflict in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has bolstered its armory and expertise..."