Middle East & North Africa
UN peacekeeping chief Lacroix in Beirut as UNIFIL’s mandate heads for its 31 December end
The UN's peacekeeping chief met Lebanon's president, speaker, prime minister and army commander as the UNIFIL mandate runs out on 31 December with no Security Council decision on a successor.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, held talks in Beirut this week on the future of the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, whose mandate ends on 31 December. The United Nations said the Security Council has not yet decided what, if anything, will follow it.
According to the Secretary-General’s spokesperson on 13 October, Lacroix arrived in Beirut to meet President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Army Commander Rodolphe Haykal, as well as diplomats. The talks cover Security Council resolution 1701, the force’s drawdown at the end of the year and Lebanon’s outlook once the mandate expires. On 14 October the UN said he had met all four Lebanese officials, and that he was due in Naqoura, where UNIFIL has its headquarters, the next day, 15 October. He was then to travel on to Syria (UNDOF), Jerusalem (UNTSO) and Iraq (UN Mine Action Service).
No decision yet in the Security Council
The UN spokesperson said the Secretary-General has put forward options for a continued UN-mandated international presence, but the Security Council has not acted. Without a decision, the mission will begin its drawdown and liquidation on 1 January 2027. The spokesperson said the UN hopes the international community will devise a plan that serves southern Lebanon and allows displaced residents of northern Israel to return home. Asked about a European initiative, he did not address it directly.
Lebanon has asked for a UN presence after the end of the mission, according to the UN’s 14 October briefing. The European Union is already preparing a separate training mission for the Lebanese army, as Geopolitiki reported in Lebanon: EU preparing a training mission for the Lebanese army; Kallas: “There cannot be a security vacuum when UNIFIL leaves”.
Incident on the border
In the same briefing on 14 October, the UN relayed a UNICEF report that unexploded ordnance detonated on Monday, 12 October, in northern Israel near the Lebanese border during a school hike. A teenage boy was killed and about 20 students and teachers were injured, according to UNICEF. The UN did not say where the ordnance came from.
The briefing did not report any Israeli or Lebanese government comment on the future of the force. The account above rests on UN statements only.
