Israel’s UN envoy said on Tuesday his country opposes efforts to maintain a large international force in southern Lebanon after the UN peacekeeping mission’s mandate ends, arguing the Lebanese army should assume responsibility for securing the border.“Our position is very clear. We think that the decision that was passed in the Security Council on Unifil finishing its mandate by the end of the year should be respected,” Danny Danon told reporters at UN headquarters.“We are aware of efforts by some countries to try to extend the mandate. We have seen the letter of the Lebanese President about this issue, and we do think it’s a mistake.”The UN Security Council decided last year that Unifil's mandate would end on December 31.Mr Danon said he had expected proposals for a limited international presence following Unifil’s departure but was surprised by discussions about keeping thousands of troops in Lebanon.Currently, Unifil has more than 7,400 troops from 46 nations.“When I met with [UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre] Lacroix, he told me about his ideas about the future. I was shocked because I expected him to say, 'We want more time, we want to leave some observers', but he actually told me that they want to leave more than 5,000 troops on the ground," he said. "We realised basically it's more of the same, and they want to have the flexibility to leave these forts forever.”The Isr...
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