Lebanon · updated 35m ago · 2 min read
Nawaf Salam Calls for International Force To Replace UNIFIL After December Mandate Expires
Salam told UN chief Lebanon needs a UN-sponsored international force post-UNIFIL mandate. He warns against a security vacuum in southern Lebanon without an alternative force.
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UNIFIL Exit, Replacement Push
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called for an international force to replace UNIFIL as its term expires in December, saying he conveyed Lebanon’s priorities in meetings held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit. Salam told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that Lebanon needed a U.N.-sponsored international force to remain in the country’s south after the current U.N. peacekeeping mandate expires, and he stressed the importance of maintaining an international presence under the umbrella of the United Nations in the south in the post-UNIFIL phase.
Salam said the replacement should ensure the continuation of monitoring, reporting and liaison functions, contribute to preserving stability, and support the process of extending the Lebanese state’s authority over all its territory. Salam also said he met with Antonio Guterres, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani and US Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).
Macron and Aoun on Sovereignty
French President Emmanuel Macron told the United Nations General Assembly that Lebanon’s sovereignty is a red line, and he insisted that only the Lebanese state can guarantee the disarmament of Hezbollah. Macron called for a new international agreement to replace UNIFIL, and he said France was working with Italy and other friendly countries of Lebanon to achieve an “effective solution” as the UNIFIL mission approaches its end.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Lebanon welcomes any substitute forces for UNIFIL if its extension becomes impossible, to continue implementing Resolution 1701 and supporting the Lebanese Army in extending the state’s authority over the southern territories up to internationally recognized borders. Aoun warned that not extending UNIFIL and not forming an international substitute force would create a vacuum that does not serve security and stability in the region, especially if Israeli occupation of southern towns and villages continues.
Displacement, Roads, and Transition
UNIFIL’s looming departure is tied to a broader picture of displacement and constrained movement in southern Lebanon, with Salam telling Guterres that around 329,000 people remain displaced in Lebanon since the latest conflict erupted.
In southern villages dependent on Blue Helmets, residents described how UNIFIL convoys are the only vehicles allowed to circulate on certain roads held by the Israelis, and they said it can take UNIFIL two days to reach villages about twenty kilometers apart.
A French chief warrant officer with the Blue Helmets in La Matinale described how sometimes “there are even mines that have been placed there deliberately by a belligerent or by another,” and he said mine clearance teams intervene.
UNIFIL said peace in southern Lebanon remains “elusive,” and it stressed that permanently ending the conflict requires “political commitments and solutions from the parties themselves,” while UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Maj. Gen. Diodato Abagnara said, “Peace is not something we address once a year; it is an enduring responsibility.”