UNSC renews UNDOF mandate for further 6 months

The UN Security Council on Wednesday renewed the mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) between Syria and Israel for six more months, until June 30, 2014 and requested the Secretary-General to report on the developments in the area every three months instead of the usual six. Acting unanimously, the Council stressed the "obligation on both parties" to scrupulously and fully respect the terms of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, and called on them to exercise maximum restraint and prevent its violation, insisting that there should be "no military activity of any kind," including military operations by the Syrian Government or opposition forces. The Council urged Member States with influence on the Syrian opposition to "strongly" convince them to halt all activities that endanger United Nations peacekeepers on the ground and to grant its personnel on the ground the freedom to carry out their mandate safely and securely. Recalling the Syrian opposition kidnapping of UNDOF personnel during the fall, the Council "strongly condemned" the recent intense fighting in the area of separation and called on all parties to the Syrian "domestic conflict" to cease their military actions there, noting in particular the increased use by the opposition of improvised explosive devices.