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renews the mandate one final time, until 31 December, 2026, after which the nearly 11,000-strong mission will be withdrawn in an “orderly and safe drawdown.”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 […]