Middle East monitor
UN votes to dismantle Lebanon peacekeeping force amid Israeli hostility and US pressure
The United Nations Security Council has voted to end the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), bowing to pressure from the US and its ally Israel, which has long sought to terminate the peacekeeping mission. Thursday’s unanimous resolution renews the mandate one final time, until 31 December, 2026, after which the nearly 11,000-strong mission will be withdrawn in an “orderly and safe drawdown.”
The resolution marks the beginning of the end for a force originally deployed in 1978 to monitor Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon. For decades, UNIFIL has operated as a buffer between Israeli occupation forces and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, documenting violations by both sides along the UN-drawn Blue Line. Its expanded post-2006 mandate tasked the mission with supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in the south.
But Israeli officials have
increasingly agitated for UNIFIL’s removal, accusing it of failing to rein in Hezbollah. Their demands intensified following the October 2023 military assault in Gaza, during which Israel launched a parallel ground offensive into southern Lebanon. Despite a ceasefire in November, Israeli air strikes have continued, killing scores of civilians and damaging infrastructure,
including UNIFIL bases.
Israel has welcomed the UN decision. “For a change, we have some good news coming from the UN,” remarked Israeli UN envoy Danny Danon, reflecting Tel Aviv’s satisfaction with the dismantling of an international force that has, despite limitations, served as a minimal restraint on Israeli impunity.
READ: UNIFIL accuses Israel army of firing at observation posts in Lebanon
The US has played a decisive role in sidelining UNIFIL. Under the Trump administration, Washington slashed funding, pushed for the mission’s termination, and accused it of ineffectiveness. Acting US Ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Shea, declared on Thursday that this would be the last US-backed extension of the mission. “This will be the last time the United States will support an extension of UNIFIL,” she said.
Lebanese officials say the US is setting them up to fail. While Washington calls for Hezbollah to be removed from the south, it simultaneously withdraws the very force that has supported the LAF in establishing a modicum of stability.
Since the November ceasefire, UNIFIL and the LAF have jointly dismantled hundreds of Hezbollah installations, including tunnels and weapons caches. Yet Lebanese authorities insist the army is not currently equipped to maintain control unaided, especially with international funding in decline.
“The US is asking us to take control of the south and push out Hezbollah,” said a senior Lebanese official, “but at the same time, they’re taking away one of the key allies who’ve been helping us do that.”
UNIFIL’s spokesperson Andrea Tenenti warned that the mission remains essential: “Lebanon has a chance to have state authority back in southern Lebanon, and we’re assisting them with that mission. But this is only the beginning—it takes time to build up an army.
DECEMBER 2026 that should give Israel enough time to pull out of Gaza and start to rob land of Lebanon
