The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon marked on Monday the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

At a ceremony at UNIFIL Sector West headquarters in Shamaa, Force Commander Major General Alberto Asarta Cuevas highlighted UNIFIL’s contribution to the effort of de-mining and its impact on helping ensure safer and more prosperous lives for the people of southern Lebanon.

Israel on Wednesday handed over to U.N. peacekeepers two Lebanese shepherds who were kidnapped near the border in southern Lebanon a day earlier.

Lebanese citizens Leon Alam, 35, and 55-year-old Mohammad Zahra were handed over to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon via the Naqoura border crossing.

The Israeli army kidnapped two Lebanese shepherds in the southern town of Rmeish near the border between the two countries, UNIFIL spokesman Niraj Singh said Tuesday.

He said the Israeli army informed U.N. peacekeepers that they arrested the shepherds at 10:15 am after they allegedly crossed the U.N.-drawn Blue Line.

Former Premier Fouad Saniora expected Hizbullah to disappear from the south, saying it couldn’t lie “in the same bed with the Lebanese army and UNIIFL,” said a WikiLeaks cable published by al-Akhbar daily on Monday.

According to the cable, Saniora told ambassadors of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council on August 14, 2006 that he had given Hizbullah a chance “to disarm immediately or after the Israeli withdrawal or hand over its arms to the Lebanese army.”

UNIFIL spokesman Neeraj Singh confirmed that the international force is ready to help in the demarcation of the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel.

“The two countries have to approve our intervention,” he told As Safir in remarks published on Saturday.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon held a ceremony at the mission headquarters in Naqoura on Friday to mark the 33rd anniversary of its presence in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL said in a statement.

Peacekeepers representing the 34 contingents that make up UNIFIL participated in the ceremony. Attending were representatives from the Lebanese armed and security forces, local mayors, community officials, as well as senior diplomats, the statement said.

UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Alberto Asarta has confirmed that the peacekeepers protested to Israel’s Northern Command the pelting with stones on international troops from the other side of the border.

The stones thrown at peacekeepers from the Israeli side across the technical fence and the Blue Line on Wednesday and Thursday were “isolated incidents that could happen at any time,” Asarta told As Safir daily in remarks published Friday.

Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez arrived in Beirut Wednesday afternoon from Amman as part of a tour of the region.

She said upon her arrival: “Spain has and still supports the peace process in the region.”

The army command stated on Wednesday that an Israeli army unit of three soldiers pelted United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon troops with rocks and it also directed lasers at the Lebanese army in the South.

It said in a statement that the incident took place between 6:45 and 6:48 am Wednesday morning at the Fatima gate adjacent to the town of Kfarkila.

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon spokesman Andrea Tenenti stated on Wednesday that the international force supports Lebanon and Israel’s discussion of issues of maritime security.

Commenting on the Lebanese army’s request from UNIFIL to demarcate the Lebanese-Syrian maritime border, he said: “The international force does not have the jurisdiction to demarcate this border.”