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Last Updated: 28 – August – 2020 22:10 PM
UNIFIL in Lebanon
The diplomats announced that the United Nations Security Council will extend the mandate of the peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon for one more year later on Friday, but will reduce the number of soldiers, amid criticism. Israelis and Americans on the efficiency of the mission. France distributed a final consensus copy to the Security Council, which will be put to a vote as of Friday.
The United States and Israel are calling for the need to reduce the number of UNIFIL forces, to be more powerful and better able to enter Hezbollah-controlled areas. Both refer to recent incidents at the border in areas under UNIFIL surveillance, and see them as evidence of the need to reinforce forces.
The extension of UNIFIL’s mandate comes at a time when Lebanon is experiencing a financial crisis, political stalemate and the aftermath of a massive explosion in Beirut that killed 180 people.
For his part, an official of the French presidency said that the renewal of the mandate is already confirmed. He went on to say: “This is important to Israel and Lebanon … Hezbollah is expected to do nothing that could lead to escalation.”
A Western diplomat said the mandate would be renewed, adding that the United States was satisfied with that because it had requested a detailed plan to improve the efficiency of the mission and report back to the council within 60 days.
The wording of the draft resolution, which was seen by Reuters, has been toughened, as it demands UNIFIL access to the tunnels discovered on the Blue Line and calls on the Lebanese authorities to investigate them. It also condemns efforts to restrict the movement of the mission.
