UNSC renews UNDOF mandate for 6 more months

The UN Security Council on Thursday acted unanimously to renew the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) between Syria and Israel for six more months, until 31 December 2013, but requested the Secretary-General this time to ensure that it has the required capacity and necessary resources to fulfill its mandate in a safe and secure way. Noting with concern that the situation in the Middle East is tense and is likely to remain so, unless and until a comprehensive settlement covering all aspects of the Middle East problem can be reached, the Council also requested the Secretary-General to report every three days, rather than the usual six, on the situation in the buffer zone between the two countries. In order for the Force to operate safely, the Council stressed the need to enhance the safety and security of UNDOF, and endorsed in this regard the Secretary-General's recommendation in his latest report to consider further adjustments to the posture and operations of the Mission, as well as to implement additional mitigation measures to enhance the self-defense capabilities of UNDOF, including maximizing the Force strength and improving its self-defense equipment. The UN managed to replace the departing 377 Austrian peacekeepers who left because of the security situation in the Golan, but failed to raise the number of all peacekeepers there from the current 933 to 1250, as recommended by the Secretary-General. Having in mind the deteriorating situation on the ground as a result of the spillover of the Syrian conflict and its adverse effect on UNDOF and its area of operations, which could jeopardize the integrity of the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria, the Council called on both countries to abide by the terms of their 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement and to scrupulously observe the ceasefire. The Council "strongly condemned" the incidents threatening the safety and security of UN personnel in recent months, including the detention of a number of UNDOF peacekeepers within the area of limitation by armed elements of the Syrian opposition, and the recent intense fighting in the area of separation, including the attack which led to the injury of two UNDOF peacekeepers earlier this month. It underlined that there should be no military activity of the armed opposition groups or the Syrian forces in the area of separation, and urged Member States to strongly convey to them to halt all activities that endanger UN peacekeepers on the ground and to accord them the freedom to carry out their mandate safely and securely, including considering the temporary use of an alternative port of entry and departure, as required, to ensure safe and secure troop rotation activities, in conformity with existing agreements. It is recalled that because of the security situation in Syria, UNDOF personnel no longer use the Damascus airport. They are travelling to and from the Mission via Tel Aviv instead.