The Israeli media reported on the 8th (local time) that the United States and Israel have agreed to suspend the activities of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
The daily Israel Hayom reported that the Donald Trump administration decided to suspend the UNIFIL operation for cost-cutting reasons, and the Israeli government agreed, citing multiple sources in Israeli politics and security circles.
Israel has reportedly recently concluded that it is cooperating effectively with the Lebanese government forces, but UNIFIL is not playing a substantial role in disarming the pro-Iranian armed group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The Jerusalem Post also reported that it had independently confirmed this information.
UNIFIL’s period of operation is extended every August through a UN Security Council resolution. If the United States, a permanent member of the Security Council, actually pushes ahead with this policy in August, UNIFIL’s operation will come to an end after 47 years since 1978.However, Israel Hayom predicted that if France, another permanent member of the Security Council that has supported UNIFIL’s operation, shows a different opinion, a compromise could be reached to gradually reduce UNIFIL’s operation.
UNIFIL has been deployed to the border area between Israel and Lebanon to maintain peace since Israel first invaded Lebanon in 1978, when it was fighting Palestinian militants. 11,000 troops and civilians from 48 countries are stationed there.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006 for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, stipulated that the Israeli army should completely withdraw from Lebanon and that only the Lebanese army and UNIFIL, excluding Hezbollah, should be stationed south of the Litani River in Lebanon.
Resolution 1701 also served as the basis for the ceasefire reached again in November last year through mediation by the United States and France after Israel and Hezbollah clashed again in the Gaza Strip war that broke out in October 2023. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who took office early this year and has a pro-Western stance, is cooperating with Israel to withdraw Hezbollah from southern Lebanon.