UN Security Council to talk post-UNIFIL Lebanon on Friday
The United Nations Security Council is set on Friday to discuss a post-UNIFIL landscape for Lebanon; both Washington and Jerusalem are clear: The time for international peacekeepers north of Israel’s border is closing.UNIFIL—the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon—has been anything but interim. Formed in 1978, ostensibly to help keep the peace between Jerusalem and Beirut, the mission has come under withering criticism from Israel and the United States for allowing the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group to operate under its nose with little to no pushback, giving it significant ground from which to launch attacks on the Galilee.The United States, through its veto power on the Security Council, forced an end to UNIFIL’s mandate, with an expiration date at the end of this calendar year, followed by a drawdown period for UNIFIL’s roughly 8,000 military personnel and 600 civilian staffU.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has proposed to the council, at its request,…
The UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss the future of international presence in Lebanon this Friday, following the mandated end of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) by year-end. Both the United States and Israel have criticized UNIFIL for its ineffectiveness against Hezbollah, with Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon stating, "The alternatives being proposed will not contribute to regional stability." UN Secretary-General António Guterres has presented three options for a post-UNIFIL force, ranging from approximately 1,980 to 5,525 uniformed personnel. However, Israel and the U.S. advocate for a trilateral framework involving Washington, Jerusalem, and Beirut to address Hezbollah's threat and border disputes, rather than a new peacekeeping mission. A U.S. official warned against a "UNIFIL-lite" scenario, emphasizing the need for any international presence to be directly invested in conflict resolution. Discussions also include the possibility of a non-U.N. third-party verification force, with Italy reportedly a candidate.
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