I. Background
1. The present report is my twenty-fourth semi-annual report on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004). It provides a review and an assessment of the implementation of the resolution since my previous report on the subject, dated 22 April 2016 (S/2016/366). I note the continued lack of progress on key provisions of the resolution and highlight concerns about ongoing pressure on the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of Lebanon.
2. The month of May marked the two-year anniversary of the vacancy in the presidency of Lebanon and, as at the time of writing, the position had yet to be filled. Attempts at resolving the situation have thus far not led to any breakthrough. The vacuum at the top level of the State institution has begun to affect other political decision-making forums, including the Cabinet, triggering concerns of further institutional paralysis. In that context, the Prime Minister, Tammam Salam, led the work of the Government in the face of adverse circumstances. While the boycott of parliamentary sessions by the Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah continued, the parliamentary dialogue under the auspices of the Speaker, Nabih Berri, held four sessions, all of which included discussions on the presidency, and the dialogue between the Future Movement and Hizbullah was maintained.
3. The conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic continued to have an impact on the security and stability of Lebanon and attacks occurred during the reporting period, in Qa‘ and Kasarah. In September, a Lebanese military court indicted two Syrian intelligence officers for their alleged involvement in an attack against two Sunni mosques in Tripoli in August 2013.
4. The Lebanese Armed Forces proactively pre-empted, prevented and responded to threats to the stability and security of Lebanon, including on the outskirts of the town of Arsal, where armed clashes with extremist militants continued to occur. In terms of overall security, an explosion took place on 12 June at a bank in Beirut. Beginning on 24 July, some 60 Palestinian individuals suspected of terrorist and criminal acts from the Palestine refugee camp of Ein El Helweh surrendered to the Lebanese authorities.
5. The number of registered refugees from the Syrian Arab Republic remained stable at slightly more than 1 million. The number of Palestine refugees from the Syrian Arab Republic fell to some 30,000 as at August 2016. As at the same date, $1.22 billion had been disbursed or committed to be disbursed in 2016, and $344 million carried over from 2015. These contributions included $979 million provided to United Nations system agencies and non-governmental organizations in support of activities under the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan, representing 39 per cent of the funding requested. In addition, $140 million was pledged to the Concessional Financing Facility for the Middle East and North Africa. There were concerns during the reporting period that refugees might be the object of retaliatory attacks, particularly in the aftermath of the suicide bombing in Qa‘, but such attacks did not materialize.
6. Lebanon participated in the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants, held on 19 September, at which Member States adopted the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (resolution 71/1). At that forum, the Prime Minister stated that the refugee crisis posed serious problems for the country’s stability, security, economy and public services. He emphasized that Lebanon could not cope with that “existential challenge” alone and that, barring a massive international effort, it risked collapsing. He also attended the Leaders’ Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis, held on the margins of the General Assembly on 20 September, under the auspices of the United States of America, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Mexico and Sweden.