Getting To Know UNIFIL, The UN Peacekeeping Forces That Have Been Existing Since The 70s

Get to know unifil (X)

YOGYAKARTA - The United Nations (UN) often sends peacekeepers in conflict areas, one of which is UNIFIL. Known to be tasked with maintaining peace in southern Lebanon, let's get to know UNIFIL further.

UNIFIL, which has been operating for decades, played a crucial role in separating both parties in conflict and maintaining peace in conflict areas.

Reporting from the Foundation for Defense of Democracys page, UNIFIL was founded on March 19, 1978 to end the war and restore peace and security in Lebanon.

The purpose of establishing UNIFIL is to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli troops in Lebanon and restore international peace and security, as well as help the Lebanese Government ensure the return of its effective authority.

After the arrival of UNIFIL troops four days later, Israeli troops withdrew from positions that were hard earned in Lebanon.

Despite UNIFIL's presence, Hezbollah's military infrastructure dominates southern Lebanon. UNIFIL's failure to fight Hezbollah has allowed the extraordinary military build-up by this Iran-backed group, including the accumulation of around 150,000 rockets and missiles.

Israel considers that Iran has helped Hezbollah establish facilities in Lebanon to convert rockets and missiles into precision guided ammunition that has the potential to penetrate Israel's defenses and strike important and valuable targets across Israel.

In October 2009, there was a major explosion in a house containing Hezbollah weapons supplies south of the Litani River. Hezbollah immediately closed the area to UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and moved the weapons rescued to another location.

The incident shows UNIFIL's fundamental defeat to Hezbollah's dominance in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has repeatedly fired weapons at Israel from the UNIFIL operating area. Since Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023, an estimated 100,000 residents of northern Israel have had to flee their homes because of threats from Lebanon.

On December 7, guided missile attacks from southern Lebanon killed an Israeli civilian, one of Hezbollah's 11 attacks that day, sparking a strong threat from Israel if attacks continue.

On December 9, 2023, Hezbollah launched several rockets into Israel, including one originating from a distance of 20 meters from UNIFIL headquarters.

UNIFIL acknowledged and condemned Hezbollah's activities but did not take many other actions.

As of January 9, 2024, 12 IDF soldiers and five Israeli civilians have been killed, and more than 150 other Israelis have been injured, in hundreds of anti-tank missile, mortar, and drone attacks.

Without mentioning Hezbollah, at the end of November, UNIFIL's head of mission expressed deep concern about the situation.

The United States accounts annually for the UNIFIL budget even though the peacekeeping agency failed to fulfill its mission.

In 2023, the US Congress has allocated $143 million to UNIFIL, which accounts for more than a quarter of the budget of about $510 million from the peacekeeping body.

Please note, since the 2006 war, Washington has spent more than $2.5 billion supporting UNIFIL.

The United States has also invested similar amounts in the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) since 2006, some of the funds are intended to facilitate cooperation between LAF and UNIFIL in southern Lebanon.

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