UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon: spokesman

UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon will not move from the border area despite five of their members being wounded and damage to facilities during the Israel-Hezbollah war, their spokesperson told AFP, Report informs.

Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), also said that an Israeli escalation against Lebanese militants Hezbollah in past weeks risked turning into "a regional conflict with catastrophic impact for everyone", and that the only solution was "diplomatic".

Shortly after he spoke, UNIFIL said unknown gunfire a day earlier hit a peacekeeper, the fifth injured in south Lebanon in two days.

The Israeli army last week announced "limited" incursions into Lebanese territory.

Tenenti said Israel had asked UNIFIL to withdraw from positions "up to five kilometres (three miles) from the Blue Line" separating both countries, but the peacekeepers refused.

That would have included its 29 positions in the country's south.

"There was a unanimous decision to stay because it's important for the UN flag to still fly high in this region, and to be able to report to the Security Council," he told AFP in an exclusive interview.

Michael Higgins, the president of Ireland which has troops in the mission, had earlier said Israel was "demanding that the entire UNIFIL operating under UN mandates walk away," which he called "outrageous".

UNIFIL, a mission of about 9,500 troops of various nationalities, is tasked with monitoring a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah.

Its role was bolstered by UN Security Council Resolution 1701 of that year, which stipulated that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be deployed in south Lebanon.