Israel and US seek to abolish UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon over failure to confront Hezbollah

Israel and the U.S. are have informed the members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) that they oppose another automatic extension of the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is scheduled for reassessment in a discussion later in August.

Israel has long criticized the peacekeeping force for failing to confront the terror group Hezbollah, which entrenched itself in southern Lebanon over decades without the UN force sounding the alarm or confronting the terror group.

Israel and the U.S. are now trying to convince UNSC members to support substantial changes to UNIFIL’s mandate, or to abolish it completely “in light of its prolonged failure to prevent Hezbollah’s infiltration into southern Lebanon, and to enforce the Lebanese government’s sovereignty in the area,” an informed source told the Jerusalem Post.

UNIFIL is the UN's fifth-largest force with over 10,000 troops, and among its most expensive with a 2024 budget of over $580 million, which rises annually.

According to the Post, Israel and the U.S. are advocating to either close down the force or to extend its mandate for another year with a clearly and narrowly defined mission to transfer full security responsibility to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).

This would assist the U.S.-led effort to pressure the Lebanese government to take full responsibility over its territory, which must eventually include the disarmament of Hezbollah.

“The Lebanese government’s decision last week to begin disarming Hezbollah only proves that this may be a once-in-a-generation moment to act against the organization,” an Israeli official told the Post.

In light of the joint campaign, France will present its own initiative to extend the mandate for another year before its orderly dismantlement and withdrawal from southern Lebanon, which the Post reported could be endorsed by the UNSC.

“UNIFIL provides little return on this investment. Its one area of added value – hosting the IDF-LAF deconfliction mechanism – has been superseded by the ceasefire oversight committee, which is also actively working to degrade Hezbollah,” said David Daoud, senior fellow at the Foundation for Freedom of Democracies.

“Meanwhile, the force cannot even fulfill its existing mandate. Since November 2024, south Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah supporters have begun regularly obstructing UNIFIL’s patrols. In the past, UNIFIL’s troops have been subjected to harassment, violence, and even murder by Hezbollah supporters.”

“UNIFIL’s exorbitant budget can be diverted to more productive bodies, like the ceasefire oversight mechanism, or to an effective force that could help Lebanon seal its borders with Syria,” said Daoud.