On Thursday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously decided to prolong a long-running peacekeeping mission in Lebanon “for a final time” until the end of 2026. After that, the operation will start a year-long “orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal.
Lebanon’s southern border with Israel is patrolled by the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which was founded in 1978. The United States, a council member with a veto, found a compromise, and the 15-member council unanimously approved a French-drafted resolution. They agreed “to extend for a final time the mandate of UNIFIL.
The resolution says UNIFIL will stop its work on 31 December 2026. After that, it will spend one year slowly and safely pulling out its staff, while working with the Lebanese government. The goal is for Lebanon to take full control of security in the south. Acting U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Shea said this will be the last time the U.S. agrees to extend UNIFIL’s mission.
The extension was praised by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam of Lebanon, who said it “reiterates the call for Israel to remove its forces from the five sites it keeps trying to occupy, and affirms the need of extending state rule over all its territory.
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