The world cannot look to UN peacekeeping forces as a means of stopping wars, whether in Gaza or in other active conflict zones, the head of the department told AFP, citing the inherent limitations of the so-called "blue helmets".
A mission in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, for example, is only "very, very, very hypothetical," said Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
The Arab League called for a similar deployment of "blue helmets" in Gaza.
But Lacroix said all the essential conditions were missing: a ceasefire, the warring parties' agreement to host UN troops and authorization from the deeply divided UN Security Council.
UN Security Council members - France and Russia - are among those also debating the role of UN peacekeeping forces in Gaza after Israel's military operation to destroy the Hamas militant group ends.
The idea is to send troops through the existing UN peacekeeping operation for the Middle East, known as UNTSO, which was established in 1948 and still has a small unarmed contingent stationed in Lebanon.
This also seems highly speculative, not least because UNTSO is not armed.
"Peacekeeping has its limits," Lacroix said. And "peace enforcement" is not part of the mandate of UN troops.
UN peacekeeping missions have been criticized, particularly in Africa, for not doing enough to protect against armed extremists.
Lacroix said the world body, which will mark its annual International Day of Blue Helmets on May 29, "of course has to continue to adapt".
But turning UN troops - trained soldiers who distinguish themselves from fighting forces by wearing pale blue UN helmets - into a war-fighting body is "not realistic or desirable".
"Imposing peace is...synonymous with waging war. Many countries in the Security Council would oppose this," said Lacroix./BGNES
