France and Italy Plan International Coalition Forces in Southern Lebanon After UNIFIL Ends

France said it is preparing, in coordination with Italy, to deploy forces belonging to an international coalition in southern Lebanon, with U.S. support, and that the deployment would take place after the UNIFIL mission ends.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that the deployment would be based on Lebanon's request and aimed at supporting the Lebanese army in carrying out its duties and strengthening stability in the south.

Anadolu Ajansı

The Al-Hadath TV framing, quoted by صـوت بيروت إنترناشونال, described the anticipated international force as part of new security arrangements for the region and linked to a later phase after UNIFIL ends.

The same statements said the deployment would be within arrangements presumed to come at a Lebanese request and aimed at supporting the Lebanese Army and strengthening its presence in the south.

In parallel, the IMLebanon account tied the French-Italian preparation to the end of UNIFIL in southern Lebanon, positioning it as a transition after the UN Interim Force in Lebanon mission.

While France and Italy moved to propose a post-UNIFIL coalition, press leaks described a separate U.S. plan to monitor the Lebanon-Israel framework agreement, with an American official telling The Washington Post that the United States will play a direct role in monitoring the movements of the Lebanese army and the Israeli army.

The Washington Post account, as relayed by الجزيرة نت, said the United States intends to deploy forces in southern Lebanon to monitor the commitment of the Lebanese and Israeli armies to the agreement, including the possible use of American ground forces in Lebanon and Israel.

Apa.az

In the same reporting, military and strategic expert Khalil Gemayel said the Mechanism Committee has been replaced by another committee including the United States, the Lebanese army, and Israel with indirect coordination, and he ruled out American troops on the ground and any military or combat role.

Journalist and political analyst Rashid Fayed argued that UNIFIL’s mission will end and that the American side would be the alternative because it is the guarantor of the framework agreement, and thus will monitor and implement this agreement.

Conversely, writer and political analyst Tawfiq Shoman said talk of American troops on Lebanese soil is a return to what things were like after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, and he added that the main mission of the American troops allegedly deployed would be to justify Israeli aggression and to avoid implementing withdrawals.

The stakes of the post-UNIFIL transition are framed around preventing a security vacuum in southern Lebanon, with France described as the architect of UNIFIL and its largest contributor in terms of troops, while UNIFIL ends under complex conditions as Israel continues to occupy parts of Lebanese territory.

In the same account, France and President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni were described as breaking the deadlock by announcing their readiness to form a 'multinational coalition' for the post-UNIFIL mandate phase in December to prevent a security vacuum that could threaten stability in southern Lebanon.

The article also described the UN Security Council extending UNIFIL’s mandate for the last time to December 31, 2027, and said the UN Secretary-General was asked to present options for the post-withdrawal phase to ensure full implementation of Resolution 1701.

On the ground, Ouest-France reported that the Lebanese Armed Forces said they completed Phase 1 of Hezbollah’s disarmament south of the Litani River and claimed to have nearly completed the deployment of 10,000 soldiers provided for in the November 2024 ceasefire agreement.

Ouest-France added that since November 2024, 340 Lebanese have been killed, according to the United Nations, and said the deadlock complicates the launch of Phase 2 of the disarmament plan, which should concern the north of the Litani.