The media officer of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Tilak Pokharel stressed that the UNIFIL is aware of a report released by a Lebanese newspaper where it claims that a ship has violated the Lebanese territorial waters on November 27, 2019.
“There are two main issues related to the paper’s report, one, the UNIFIL does not have any evidence indicating that a ship has violated the Lebanese territorial waters as the report claims, and two, when presenting the claims, the journalist has ignored the limits of the UNIFIL’s mission,” he stated.
In the same context, Pokharel explained that the UNIFIL does not have an authorization to monitor the buoy line fixed from one side, Israel’s side, and was not recognized by Lebanon or the United Nations.
“Regarding the UNIFIL Maritime Task Force (MTF), in accordance with the request of the Lebanese government, and in accord with UN Security Council resolution 1701, the UNIFIL MTF has a very important mission, which is assisting the Lebanese navy force in preventing the entry of weapons or related materials through the coast into Lebanon, without the approval of the Lebanese government,” he noted.