UN renews peacekeeping Lebanon mission amid Israel-Hezbollah tensions

A long-running peacekeeping mission in Lebanon was renewed for another year by the UN Security Council amid warnings of a new "new conflict" between Hezbollah and Israel.

The draft resolution was approved by the UN unanimously and allows for the approximately 10,000 members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) - which was created in March 1978 - to stay in place.

The draft text states that the Security Council warned that "violations of the cessation of hostilities could lead to a new conflict that none of the parties or the region can afford".

It "condemns all violations of the Blue Line" between Lebanon and Israel, "both by air and ground, and strongly calls upon all parties to respect the cessation of hostilities".

Tensions have soared after Hezbollah blamed Israel for an armed drone attack on its southern Beirut stronghold, which President Michel Aoun said amounted to a "declaration of war".

On Wednesday, the Lebanese army fired on an Israeli drone in south Lebanon.

"Urging all parties to make every effort to ensure that the cessation of hostilities is sustained," the Security Council called on all sides to "exercise maximum calm and restraint".

The resolution includes a requirement - on the insistence of the US, diplomats said - for the UN secretary general to perform an evaluation on the UNIFIL mission and its staff before 1 June 2020.

Washington was unable, however, to reduce the maximum allowed number of peacekeepers deployed to 9,000.

The Security Council resolution calls for UNIFIL to have full access to the Blue Line, at the US' request.

It expresses "concern that UNIFIL still has not been able to access all relevant locations north of the Blue Line related to the discovery of tunnels crossing the Blue Line".

Israel has said it discovered and destroyed a series of cross-border Hezbollah tunnels since late last year.