UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed a Filipino general as the new Force Commander for the United Nations peacekeeping operation on Golan Heights, tasked with observing the ceasefire between Israel and Syria. Major-General Natalio C. Ecarma succeeded Maj.-Gen. Wolfgang Jilke of Austria as Head of Mission and Force Commander of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) from March 1, 2010.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed a Filipino general as the new Force Commander for the United Nations peacekeeping operation on Golan Heights, tasked with observing the ceasefire between Israel and Syria. Major-General Natalio C. Ecarma succeeded Maj.-Gen. Wolfgang Jilke of Austria as Head of Mission and Force Commander of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) from March 1, 2010.
Filipino's Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo extolled Filipino troops serving as peacekeepers under the United Nations in the Golan Heights for keeping the peace in the Middle East. He congratulated the men and women of the 1st Philippine Peacekeeping Contingent in the Golan for effectively shouldering responsibility as a member of the family of nations in helping keep the peace in this part of the world.
Considered one of the longest-running UN peacekeeping missions, UNDOF was established by the Security Council in 1974 to end the Yom Kippur or Arab-Israeli War and is mandated to supervise the ceasefire between Israel and Syria; oversee the disengagement of their forces; and monitor the so-called areas of separation and limitation between the two countries. At present, UNDOF is made up of 1,042 troops from the Philippines, Austria, Canada, Croatia, India, Japan and Poland.
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