More than 10 EU states are willing to contribute resources and people to a new military and civilian mission to advise and train Lebanese forces after the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers later this year, the bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday.
The mission would aim to strengthen Lebanon's Internal Security Forces to help free up the Lebanese army to focus on disarming the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
“Planning is progressing well, and we aim for the [European] Council decision to launch in October,” Ms Kallas said after a meeting of EU Defence Ministers in Ireland.
Speaking alongside Ms Kallas, Irish Foreign and Defence Minister Helen McEntee said it was important not to leave a void after the departure of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, scheduled for December 31. The US vetoed the renewal of Unifil's mandate last year after nearly 50 years of deployment in southern Lebanon.
“We do not want to allow a gap to exist where we know there needs to be a continued presence. It’s really important that we can reach an agreement soon,” Ms McEntee said. With 274 military personnel deployed, Ireland is among the leading contributors to the force of more than 7,000 peacekeepers from 46 countries.
The aim is not to replace the Unifil mission, Ms Kallas said, but to help Lebanese security forces “establish order” and support “border and maritime security”.
“We are in close contact with the Lebanese government, what they need from their side and what member states are willing to contribute,” she said. “But there were more than 10 countries when I counted who are willing to contribute resources and people as well.”
Dialogue with Lebanon
Lebanon is understood to want to extend Unifil's mandate, which necessitates approval from the UN Security Council, but the US position on this remains unclear. France, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, would be open to backing an extension, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said at a press conference in Paris.
Mr Barrot said France was discussing Unifil's future with Lebanese authorities. “If they deem that the situation requires an extension, we will support that position in our dialogue with them.”
In June, France and Italy announced a joint initiative to create an international coalition to replace Unifil, in co-ordination with the EU and Nato, to strengthen the Lebanese state. It is supported by the Lebanese leadership but opposed by Israel, which is fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Israel has long accused Unifil of failing in its mission to disarm Hezbollah, and that criticism has been embraced by US President Donald Trump's administration. Unifil supporters respond that disarming Hezbollah was never its mandate, and that its role was only to support the historically weak Lebanese army in doing so.
During a visit in August to Rome, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun thanked Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni “for the support Italy provides to Lebanon at various levels”. The two leaders discussed growing international concern over the prospect of a Unifil withdrawal.
Lebanon and Israel have engaged in the past months in seven rounds of direct talks at the US embassy in Rome that focused on the so-called “pilot zones”. These are designated areas in which Israeli forces would withdraw, the Lebanese army would assume control and Hezbollah would disarm.
Yet so far, Israel has withdrawn from only two pilot zones. Lebanon hopes an international presence could accelerate an Israeli withdrawal.
