The head of United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon said on Saturday it was critical to ensure other UN agencies and Lebanese troops could assume the tasks carried out by the force before it begins withdrawing at the end of this year.
Major General Diodato Abagnara of Italy spoke to Reuters in southern Lebanon at a position operated by the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, which has been monitoring hostilities in southern Lebanon for nearly 50 years.
Since a new war erupted between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in March, the force has also provided security escorts for humanitarian aid convoys to residents in a small cluster of predominantly Christian southern Lebanese towns now encircled by Israeli troops. Residents in much of the rest of southern Lebanon have been forcibly displaced by Israeli strikes and evacuation orders.
The UN Security Council has ordered UNIFIL to begin withdrawing at the end of 2026, triggering concerns over whether aid deliveries can continue and how the force can transfer its positions to Lebanese troops.
