Israel’s UN envoy said on Tuesday his country opposes efforts to maintain a large international military presence in southern Lebanon after the UN peacekeeping mission’s mandate ends, arguing Lebanese forces should assume responsibility for securing the border.
“Our position is very clear. We think that the decision that was passed in the Security Council on Unifil finishing its mandate by the end of the year should be respected,” Danny Danon told reporters at UN headquarters.
“We are aware of efforts by some countries to try to extend the mandate. We have seen the letter of the Lebanese President about this issue, and we do think it’s a mistake.”
The UN Security Council decided last year that the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) would end on December 31.
Mr Danon said he had expected proposals for a limited international presence following Unifil’s departure but was surprised by discussions about keeping thousands of troops in Lebanon.
Currently, Unifil has more than 7,400 troops from 46 nations.
“When I met with [UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre] Lacroix, he told me about his ideas about the future. I was shocked because I expected him to say, 'We want more time, we want to leave some observers', but he actually told me that they want to leave more than 5,000 troops on the ground," he said.
"We realised basically it's more of the same, and they want to have the flexibility to leave these forts forever.”
The Israeli envoy said that his country, along with the US, had explained their position, and that it was "for the benefit of Lebanon" to move to the next stage.
“It will be impossible for Lebanon to move forward as they will continue to bring in international forces that are actually making it harder for them to apply sovereignty,” he added.
Mr Danon said Israel wanted to deal directly with the Lebanese military over security along the border, pointing to Israel’s arrangements with other neighbouring countries.
“We have borders with Egypt, and we deal directly with the Egyptian army. We have a border with Jordan. We deal directly with the Jordanian military. Even with Syria, we have a mechanism to discuss issues directly.”
In June, France and Italy announced a joint initiative to create an international, post-Unifil coalition to help support the Lebanese state. It is supported by Lebanese authorities but is opposed by Israel, which is fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Israel has long accused Unifil of failing to help disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah, and that criticism has been amplified by US President Donald Trump's administration. Unifil supporters say disarming Hezbollah was never its mandate, and that its role was to support the historically weak Lebanese army in doing so.
Options include a European-led force or a combination of UN and coalition support, France’s UN ambassador, Jerome Bonnafont, told The National last week at a press briefing.
Mr Bonnafont said any new arrangement would be aimed at supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces and would be built around the principles of Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.
Mr Danon said Israel would be less concerned about foreign troops deployed elsewhere in Lebanon to train the Lebanese military.
“If France or Italy or anyone else wants to train the Lebanese military in Beirut or somewhere else, you know, it’s their decision,” he said. “But to send troops to the border with Israel, it’s sensitive for us, and that’s where we put most of the efforts together with the US to make sure that Unifil is finishing, and we can move on.”
