De-escalation zone: The UN peacekeepers trying to stop Gaza war spreading

As war rages in Gaza, another simmering conflict risks escalating on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon – which is why the UN peacekeeping mission there is so important.

UNIFIL – the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon – has three important responsibilities: helping civilians affected by the war, protecting the so-called “Blue Line” that separates both countries and maintaining a channel of communication between them.

The task isn’t easy though, amid daily exchanges of fire that have uprooted an estimated 86,000 people in southern Lebanon since 7 October and left three UN “blue helmets” injured and their base damaged. 

For the latest on how UNIFIL’s peacekeepers are working to prevent violence from spreading, UN News’s Nancy Sarkis sat down with Andrea Tenenti, UNIFIL Spokesperson and Chief of Strategic Communications and Public Information (SCPI).