UNITED NATIONS, June 2: UN chief Antonio Guterres said Monday that peacekeepers will be needed in Lebanon after the mandate of the current mission expires at year-end -- an option likely to face opposition from the United States and Israel.
Last August, the UN Security Council, under US pressure, decided to end the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on December 31, 2026.
However, it asked Guterres to propose options by June 1 to allow UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon, particularly to monitor the Blue Line, which stretches for 120 kilometers (75 miles), marking the de facto border between Lebanon and Israel -- now the middle of the Israel-Hezbollah war.
In a report to the Security Council seen by AFP on Monday, Guterres proposes three options ranging from nearly 2,000 to more than 5,500 UN personnel to monitor the ceasefire and support the Lebanese armed forces.
"Under all proposed options, a uniformed United Nations presence working to facilitate de-escalation, dialogue, liaison and coordination, and support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, would be necessary... towards the overarching objective of a long-term solution to the conflict," the report says.
Concerns over the exit of the UNIFIL come with Israeli troops occupying south Lebanon's border areas, and as Israel and Lebanon hold direct negotiations seeking to end decades of hostilities.
UNIFIL currently counts some 7,500 peacekeepers from nearly 50 countries. They are deployed in south Lebanon near the Blue Line.
The force has been a buffer between Lebanon and Israel since 1978 although its presence has not prevented repeated outbreaks of conflict.
Several Lebanese sources told AFP that Beirut, which has pledged to disarm Hezbollah, supports maintaining a UN presence after the departure of UNIFIL.
"Recent developments have only heightened Lebanon's urgent need for continued UN and international assistance, specifically to facilitate an Israeli withdrawal on the one hand, and to enable the state to extend its authority over its entire territory on the other," said Lebanon's ambassador to the UN, Ahmad Arafa, thanking Guterres for his report.
Several members of the Security Council also support replacing UNIFIL, particularly China and Russia.
"As Unifil's mandate is about to expire, the Security Council must make a responsible decision to ensure the continued UN presence in Lebanon, and to prevent a security vacuum," said Fu Cong, China's UN envoy.
But the US and close ally Israel welcomed the vote in August that ended UNIFIL. "AFP
