Lebanese PM visits UN peacekeeping headquarters

Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Wednesday visited the United Nations peacekeeping headquarters in Naqoura at the Lebanese Israeli border.

The visit came as UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon) is celebrating the 42th anniversary of its establishment.

Diab, with the Head of UNIFIL Major Colonel Stefano Del Co, visited UNIFIL troops in the Naqoura base.

In a press briefing, Diab called on the International community to exert pressure on Israel to implement the UN resolution 1701 and pull out from the occupied Lebanese territories.

The peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, was originally created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops after a 1978 invasion.

The mission was expanded after the 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah so that peacekeepers could deploy along the Lebanon-Israel border to help Lebanese troops extend their authority into their country's south for the first time in decades.