It took place at the "Millevoi" base in Shama, in the presence of the Italian ambassador to Lebanon Nicoletta Bombardiere, of the air team general Nicola Lanza De Cristoforis, deputy commander of COVI, of the deputy commander of UNIFIL, brigadier general Chok Bahadur Dhakal, of the local civil and military authorities, the ceremony of turnover in command of the Joint Task Force-Lebanon Sector West (JTF-L SW), operational arm of UNIFIL in the Western Sector of the area of operations, between Brigadier General Giovanni Brafa Musicoro and Brigadier General Enrico Fontana.
Italy leads the JTF-L SW, made up of over 3600 Blue Helmets from 17 of the 49 Nations participating in the Mission. The Italian contribution in Southern Lebanon exceeds 1.000 units, of the over 10.000 total of UNIFIL. With the Leonte XXXIV operation, the brigade Granaders of Sardinia of the Italian Army completes the fourth mandate in Southern Lebanon, since the beginning of the United Nations peacekeeping mission, which since 2006 reflects the terms of Resolution 1701 and assigns the Blue Helmets the precise task of monitoring the cessation of hostilities, assist local institutions in the exercise of sovereignty, in particular the Lebanese Armed Forces, and support the civilian population.
As of August 2023, the Granaders of Sardinia it formed the backbone of one structured multinational device out of five Task Force, respectively of Ghanaian (Ghanbatt), Malaysian (Malbatt), Italian (Italbatt), South Korean (Rokbatt) and Irish nationality, the latter co-powered with Poland (IrishPolbatt).
Within the pillar of resolution no. 1701 of 2006 of the United Nations Security Council, the legal basis of the mission in Lebanon and relating to the monitoring of the cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel, over 37.000 patrols were conducted in the area of operations.
One third of the operational activities carried out along the Blue Line were conducted together with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). Added to these are the joint training activities, thanks to which the Italian soldiers and those of the 5th Lebanese brigade integrated, exchanging knowledge and experiences.
The "Taurinense" Alpine Brigade of the Italian Army from today marks the beginning of Leonte XXXV and its third mandate within UNIFIL.
