Lebanon’s Call for Another Extension of UNIFIL’s Mandate Won’t End Hezbollah’s Threat

Lebanon’s government is becoming increasingly nervous as the expiration date for the mandate of UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, draws closer.

Meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on October 17, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated his earlier call for one more extension of UNIFIL’s mandate, asserting that the force’s continued presence would ease the transition of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) into areas cleared of Hezbollah fighters. Aoun said that if this proved impossible, he would welcome “any arrangement that ensures an international presence in the south, prevents a vacuum, and avoids placing the Lebanese army in direct contact with the Israeli army.”

While southern Lebanon remains febrile, Aoun’s solution would result in further entrenchment of Hezbollah, given UNIFIL’s historic reluctance to directly confront Iran’s Lebanese proxy. This will further antagonize Israel.

Hezbollah Flourished Under UNIFIL’s Presence

UNIFIL has been in situ since 1978, covering a period of nearly half-a-century that witnessed the emergence of Hezbollah during the 1980s as a heavily armed and potentially lethal threat to Israel. As its name — the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon — suggests, UNIFIL was initially intended as a temporary presence.

Instead, UNIFIL underwent a dramatic transformation following the Israel-Hezbollah war of 2006, when the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1701. A fresh injection of peacekeepers arrived with an expanded mandate to assist in keeping the area south of the Litani River free from non-state armed groups, as well as securing Lebanon’s borders against illicit arms transfers.

The constant Hezbollah attacks on Israel that immediately followed the October 7, 2023, Hamas atrocities underlined UNIFIL’s failure to deliver on its mandate. In August 2025, the UN Security Council extended UNFIL’s presence for one final time — until December 31, 2026 — with the intention of removing the mission in its entirety within 12 months of that date.

However, the renewal of fighting in March resulted in a call from the Lebanese government for UNIFIL’s mandate to be extended beyond its projected departure date.

UN and France Back Lebanese Position

The UN’s head of peacekeeping, Undersecretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix, endorsed Aoun’s position. Speaking during an October 14 visit to Beirut, Lacroix — whose tenure has been marked by a 27 percent reduction in peacekeeping missions globally and a decline of over 50 percent in the number of serving personnel — claimed that “the Lebanese authorities were unanimous in telling us they want to keep a UN presence.” He also stated that discussions would soon begin at the UN Security Council on a potential successor force, emphasizing that the “voice of the Lebanese authorities should be heard very clearly during that process of negotiation.”  

France, which has served as the “penholder” for UNIFIL at the Security Council, is drafting the resolutions for the force’s extension and has been similarly sympathetic to the Lebanese government’s position. As he departed from his latest visit to Beirut, Barrot stressed “the need to create an international architecture to back Lebanon’s sovereignty.” While the European Union has announced the creation of a support mission to train Lebanese government forces, this is anticipated to be a modest contribution, with no plans for it to take over UNIFIL’s functions.

U.S. Must Hold Firm on Trilateral Framework

Both the United States and Israel remain highly skeptical of any UNIFIL extension. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar observed in April that “Hezbollah systematically deploys its terrorists and assets next to UNIFIL stations, taking advantage of UNIFIL’s presence for its hostile actions.”

A wiser option would be to bolster the trilateral framework for negotiations launched by the United States with Lebanon and Israel, which aims to replace international peacekeepers with Lebanon’s own army and security forces. The United States should not waver on its support for the framework as a means of moving forward. It should continue backing Israel’s right to carry out defensive operations in south Lebanon until Hezbollah is verifiably disarmed and the Lebanese state, assisted by the European Union, is in full control of its territory.

Ben Cohen is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from the author and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Ben on X @BenCohenOpinion. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.