6 days ago
The UNIFIL mandate in southern Lebanon wavers under US pressure
At the end of August, the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) may expire due to a lack of consensus in the U.N. Security Council. Long considered a diplomatic formality, its renewal has in recent years become a political battleground. Behind discreet negotiations in New York, the fragile balance in southern Lebanon is at stake. On Aug. 18, the Security Council is scheduled to hold closed consultations to hear Mohammad Khaled Khiari, U.N. assistant secretary-general for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific. In earlier similar reports Washington wants to suspend UNIFIL funding, change its mission, Rajji says Since the war ended on Nov. 27, 2024, following Franco-American mediation, an unstable equilibrium has taken hold. Inspired by U.N. Resolution 1701 (2006), the agreement calls for the Israeli army to...
