UN Security Council renews Lebanon peacekeeping mission 'for a final time'

29/8/2025 6:29

The United Nations Security Council on Thursday unanimously extended "for a final time" a long-running peacekeeping mission in Lebanon until the end of 2026, when the operation will then begin a year-long "orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal."



The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), established in 1978, patrols Lebanon's southern border with Israel.



The 15-member council unanimously adopted a French-drafted resolution after a compromise was reached with the United States, a veto-wielding council member. The Security Council decided "to extend for a final time the mandate of UNIFIL."



The resolution "requests UNIFIL to cease its operations on 31 December 2026 and to start from this date and within one year its orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal of its personnel, in close consultation with the Government of Lebanon with the aim of making Lebanon Government the sole provider of security in southern Lebanon."



This will be the last time the United States will support an extension of UNIFIL, said acting U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Shea.