by Mike Wagenheim
Washington pulled funding for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon over its “abject failure” to contain Hezbollah.
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U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon vehicles patrol in
the Marjayoun district, near the border with Israel, Nov. 29, 2024.
Photo by AFP via Getty Images. |
Washington has said it wants to see the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, which the White House said is “fraught with waste and abuse” and has failed to contain Hezbollah, wind down as Lebanon’s military disarms the terror group.
But a France-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution, which JNS viewed, proposes to extend UNIFIL’s mandate by a year, with no definitive end in sight.
The UNIFIL mandate is set to expire on Aug. 31. As a permanent member of the council, Washington holds veto power over its mandate extension.
The Associated Press reported that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved earlier this month “a plan that would wind down and end UNIFIL in the next six months, according to Trump administration officials and congressional aides familiar with the discussions.”
The French draft contains no mention of a planned end to UNIFIL’s operations, even as the Associated Press reported that the United States is willing to support a one-year extension, so long as it’s “followed by a time-certain wind-down period of six months.”
The draft also contains no mention of a potential force reduction, despite the United Nations facing a financial crisis, which multiple officials have stated will impact its peacekeeping operations.
The draft mandate renewal, which would carry through Aug. 31, 2026, notes that the Security Council “indicates its intention to work on a withdrawal for UNIFIL with the aim of making the Lebanese government the sole provider of security in southern Lebanon.”
That would happen if the Lebanese government controls all its territory completely and “the parties agree on a comprehensive political arrangement,” according to the draft resolution.
However, UNIFIL’s mandate since the end of the 2006 Lebanon War has largely revolved around the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which already calls for a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution, and demands the disarmament of Hezbollah and all non-state actors, along with the restoration of Lebanese sovereignty throughout the country.
In June, the White House requested that Congress take back funds appropriated to UNIFIL and other U.N. peacekeeping missions that hadn’t been spent, to which both houses agreed. The White House described UNIFIL as an “abject failure” in its rescission request.
Lebanon attacked Israel on a nearly daily basis between Oct. 8, 2023, and Nov. 27, 2024, along the Jewish state’s northern border, which is an area in which UNIFIL operates.
Israel is also required to withdraw troops from five positions it holds in Lebanese territory and cede them to the Lebanese military, per the draft proposal. (The Israeli mission to the global body declined to comment.)
Established nearly 50 years ago, UNIFIL has an annual budget of approximately $538 million and approximately 10,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon.
Mike Wagenheim
Source: https://www.jns.org/no-sunset-for-un-force-in-lebanon-in-draft-of-its-renewal/
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