UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed recent progress on resolving the humanitarian aspects of the Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hizbullah.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Ban noted the Israeli Government’s recent decision that involves the return of two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who had been abducted and a solution to the cases of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel. “He looks forward to the signing and the full implementation of the negotiated agreement in the near future,” the statement said.

“He hopes that the envisaged humanitarian moves will encourage further steps on implementing other parts of the resolution [1701] and contribute to further humanitarian moves.”