JAKARTA - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that peacekeeping troops would be needed in Lebanon after the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) expires this year, an option that is likely to face opposition from the United States and Israel.
Last August, the UN Security Council decided to end the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on December 31, 2026.
However, the Security Council asked Guterres to propose options by June 1 to allow UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon, specifically to monitor the Blue Line, which stretches along 120 kilometers (75 miles), which marks the de facto border between Lebanon and Israel - which is now in the middle of the Israel-Hizbullah war.
In a report to the Security Council on Monday, Secretary-General Guterres proposed three options ranging from 1,500 to more than 5,500 UN personnel to monitor the ceasefire and support the Lebanese armed forces.
"In all proposed options, the presence of UN troops in uniform working to facilitate de-escalation, dialogue, liaison and coordination, as well as support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, will be necessary towards the main objective of a long-term solution to the conflict," the report said, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (2/6).
As previously reported, the UN Secretary-General proposed three new troop options for the mission in southern Lebanon, as the UNIFIL mission ends.
In a letter to the Security Council, Secretary-General Guterres said a continued peacekeeping force would be needed to monitor the Israel-Lebanon border, support the Lebanese army, and help prevent a recurrence of the conflict, The National reported.
The first option would be to establish an unarmed military observer presence of 350 personnel supported by four infantry battalions with a total of 3,000 armed troops and a reserve force of 700 people.
According to a letter seen by The National, it "will have the capacity to observe developments along the Blue Line and up to the Litani River with the most credibility".
The second option would place 285 military observers, two infantry battalions with a total of 1,500 troops and a reserve force of 450 people.
It will focus on the area between the Litani River and the Blue Line, and will have "the capacity to directly monitor part of the Blue Line through its physical presence, including from static observation posts and through patrols".
Meanwhile, the third and smallest option will consist of 215 military observers, two light infantry battalions each consisting of 450 troops, and a rapid reaction force consisting of 350 people.
Under the arrangement, the UN would monitor developments along the Blue Line and several kilometers to the north, but "the entire Blue Line cannot be monitored continuously without the necessary technological capacity," the letter said.
Concerns over UNIFIL's departure come at a time of Israeli troop occupation of southern Lebanon's border areas, and as Israel and Lebanon hold direct negotiations to end decades of hostilities.
Quoted from the UN website, UNIFIL, which was established based on UN Security Council Resolutions 425 and 426 in 1978, was later supplemented by UN Security Council Resolution 1701 in 2006, will end its mission in Lebanon on December 31, 2026 in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2790 in 2025.
UNIFIL currently has about 7,500 peacekeepers from nearly 50 countries. They are stationed in southern Lebanon near the Blue Line.
The force has been a buffer between Lebanon and Israel since 1978 although its presence has not prevented repeated conflict.
Several Lebanese sources told AFP, Beirut, which has pledged to disarm Hezbollah, supports the UN presence after the departure of UNIFIL.
"The latest developments only increase Lebanon's urgent need for continued UN and international assistance, particularly to facilitate Israel's withdrawal on the one hand, and to enable the country to expand its authority over all its territory on the other hand," said Lebanon's Ambassador to the United Nations Ahmad Arafa, while thanking Secretary-General Guterres for his report.
Several members of the Security Council also supported the replacement of UNIFIL, especially China and Russia.
"As the mandate of UNIFIL is about to end, the Security Council must make a responsible decision to ensure the continued presence of the United Nations in Lebanon, and to prevent a security vacuum," said Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Fu Cong.
On the other hand, the US and its close ally, Israel, welcomed the vote in August last year that ended UNIFIL.
The administration of President Donald Trump has questioned the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping missions and has withheld some of the US financial contributions to support them, forcing the UN to reduce its forces around the world.
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