Israeli Army chief, UNIFIL chief discuss security issues

Tel Aviv, Feb 1 Aviv Kochavi, Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Force, met UN Interim Force in Lebanon's (UNIFIL) Commander Stefano Del Col to discuss the security situation in southern Lebanon.

According to the IDF, the meeting between the two top officials took place on Sunday during which they discussed security issues along the border between Israel and Lebanon, as well as the UNIFIL missions in the region, Xinhua news agency.

Kochavi also raised the "ongoing violations of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701 by Hezbollah", it added.

In a Twitter post, the IDF said: "Throughout last year, Hezbollah continually violated UNSCR 1701 and other international resolutions. The IDF considers UNIFIL to be an important and significant factor in maintaining regional stability. We expect them to report, regulate, and enforce resolutions violated by Hezbollah."

The Forces did not elaborate on the "violations", but Israel has long accused Hezbollah of building precision weapons.

Israel and Hezbollah once fought a full-fledged war in 2006.

It was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, Northern Israel and the Golan Heights.

The conflict resulted in the deaths of some 1,300 Lebanese people, and 165 Israelis.

It also displaced approximately one million Lebanese and 300,000–500,000 Israelis.

( With inputs from IANS )