The UNIFIL withdrawal from South Lebanon will begin at the end of 2026 following the expiration of its mandate, with most troops set to leave by mid-2027. The spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, Candice Ardiel, confirmed to AFP that the mission intends to reduce and withdraw \u201call or most of its uniformed personnel\u201d within the announced timeline.<\/p>\n
The move follows a decision by the UN Security Council on August 28, 2025, to extend UNIFIL\u2019s mandate for a final time until December 31, 2026, and to initiate a coordinated and safe drawdown over the course of one year.<\/p>\n
UNIFIL has been deployed in southern Lebanon since 1978, operating as a buffer force along the Lebanese border with Israel and monitoring the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.<\/p>\n
Under the Security Council resolution, the drawdown process will begin on December 31, 2026, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2027.<\/p>\n
According to Ardiel, once operational activities conclude, UNIFIL will:<\/p>\n
Withdraw personnel and equipment
\nTransfer its positions to Lebanese authorities
\nMaintain limited tasks, including protection of UN personnel and assets
\nSupport the safe departure of remaining troops and materiel<\/p>\n
She emphasized that the recent reduction in troop numbers is directly linked to the United Nations\u2019 financial crisis and cost cutting measures affecting all missions, and not to the expiration of the mandate.<\/p>\n
UNIFIL currently consists of approximately 7,500 troops from 48 countries. The force has reduced its numbers by around 2,000 personnel in recent months, with an additional 200 troops expected to depart by May, according to the spokesperson.<\/p>\n
The mission\u2019s responsibilities include:<\/p>\n
Conducting patrols near the Lebanese Israeli border
\nMonitoring violations of Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah
\nSupporting the Lebanese Army\u2019s deployment south of the Litani River<\/p>\n
Following the November 2024 ceasefire that ended more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, UNIFIL supported the Lebanese Army, which was tasked by the government with implementing a disarmament plan in the area south of the Litani.<\/p>\n
The mission has repeatedly reported Israeli fire targeting its positions or surrounding areas since the ceasefire took effect. Israel has continued carrying out strikes in southern Lebanon, stating that the operations aim to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its military capabilities.<\/p>\n
Since the decision to end the mandate, Lebanese authorities have called for maintaining an international presence in southern Lebanon, even in a reduced form, while emphasizing the importance of continued European participation.<\/p>\n
Italy has expressed readiness to keep its forces in southern Lebanon after UNIFIL\u2019s departure. Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-No\u00ebl Barrot stated during a visit to Beirut last week that the Lebanese Army should assume the responsibilities currently carried out by the international force.<\/p>\n
As part of the ceasefire implementation, the Lebanese Army has strengthened its deployment in the area south of the Litani River, which extends approximately 30 kilometers from the Israeli border. Last month, the army announced it had completed the removal of unauthorized weapons from that zone and is expected to present a plan to the Council of Ministers to continue the process in areas north of the river.<\/p>\n
The UNIFIL withdrawal from South Lebanon marks a significant shift in the security landscape of the region, with responsibility gradually transitioning to the Lebanese Army, while international actors continue to monitor the implementation of Resolution 1701 and post mandate arrangements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The UNIFIL withdrawal from South Lebanon will begin at the end of 2026 following the expiration of its mandate, with most troops set to leave by mid-2027. The spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, Candice Ardiel, confirmed to AFP that the mission intends to reduce and withdraw \u201call or most of its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","override":[{"template":"7","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"left-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"topbottom","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","first":"0","enable_toc":"0","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}