Lebanese and Israeli forces could be left face-to-face with no third-party buffer, UN peace chief warns

NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s peacekeeping chief warned on Wednesday that the Lebanese army and Israeli forces could be left facing each other with no third-party buffer when the UN Interim Force in Lebanon’s mandate ends in December, and pressed the Security Council to provide guidance on what should come next. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the under-secretary-general for peace operations, said that during his recent visit to the country, Lebanese leaders had voiced fears of a security vacuum in the south, an