UN Extends UNIFIL to 2026, Plans Drawdown to Lebanese Security

The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on Thursday to extend the longrunning peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon for a final time through Dec. 31, 2026, and to begin an orderly, yearlong drawdown thereafter that would make the Lebanese government the sole provider of security in the south, diplomats and U.N. officials said. The decision ends more than four decades of continuous UN Interim Force in Lebanon operations while leaving a narrow window for Lebanon and its international partners to prepare a transition.

The resolution, drafted by France after negotiations with the United States, requests UNIFIL to cease operations on Dec. 31, 2026 and to start within one year an orderly withdrawal in close consultation with Beirut. The council authorized limited UNIFIL activity during the drawdown, including protection for U.N. personnel, situational awareness around UN positions and assistance for humanitarian operations. The mission currently comprises roughly 10,800 military and civilian personnel and was first deployed in 1978 and expanded after the 2006 Israel Hezbollah war.

U.S. and Israeli pressure to curtail UNIFIL shaped the negotiations. The United States...