Lebanon is racing against the end of the mandate of the international forces operating in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) at the end of this year, with a diplomatic move to avoid a security vacuum that threatens Lebanon’s internationally recognized southern borders. Lebanon is losing an international documentation mechanism for Israeli attacks, isolating the steadfast residents in the Christian villages in the Bint Jbeil district, and forcing them to submit directly to Israeli measures.
The United Nations Interim Mission in the South (UNIFIL) said in a statement on Friday: “In accordance with Security Council Resolution 2790 (2025), UNIFIL’s mandate in Lebanon ends on December 31, 2026, after which the mission begins the process of reducing its numbers and withdrawing.”
Diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the complete withdrawal arrangements will extend for months, as the sectors will not be evacuated all at once, but rather the withdrawal will take place according to a timetable and gradually. To prevent a vacuum in the three sectors (western, central and eastern).
Lebanon fears a “vacuum” in the south, under Israeli occupation, after the Lebanese army withdrew from the occupied areas during the Israeli incursion deep into southern Lebanon between March 2026 and June of the same year. The army was forced to gradually withdraw from dozens of points that it occupied in the South Litani sector, and redeployed and repositioned in the unoccupied areas north of the Yellow Line, which are areas located within the South Litani sector, the headquarters of UNIFIL operations.
Security sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that fears of a “vacuum” in the south after the departure of UNIFIL are not limited to the security file, explaining that the immediate danger “represents the disappearance of the border points that UNIFIL has worked to establish with the Lebanese army since 2000 (defining the Blue Line) in the border area with Israel,” noting that “the absence of an international witness will push Israel to continue its violations of the international borders” that Israel agreed to in the armistice agreement. In 1949.
The sources added: “The only witness today in the occupied area is the United Nations forces, in the absence of the official Lebanese agencies (the army and security forces), and in light of the displacement of residents and the destruction of villages,” stressing that the international forces “have always been the reliable witness before the international community, supporting Lebanon.”
The sources said that the reliable international testimony “includes documenting Israeli practices and attacks, and recording the history of the conflict in the United Nations, which is a mission that Lebanon will lose in the absence of UNIFIL.”
She stressed that “in light of the Israeli allegations, the international narrative and documentation cannot be questioned.” The sources stressed that the UNIFIL mission, since 2006, has helped the Lebanese army to deploy in the south of the Litani, was supportive of Lebanese legitimate institutions, and implemented its pledges in accordance with its mandate stipulated in Resolution (1701), and 45 countries assumed these responsibilities over a period of 20 years.
The sources said that the departure of UNIFIL without being replaced by a UN force or any force representing the international community “will leave Lebanon prey to the Israeli hyena, and leave it alone facing Tel Aviv,” pointing out that the repercussions of the vacuum “will include hundreds of families who are still steadfast in the occupied area,” referring to the three Christian villages in the Bint Jbeil district (Rmeish, Dibal, and Ain Ebel), whose residents move deeper into Lebanon to accompany UNIFIL in the occupied areas, then Accompanying the army and UNIFIL until the northern Litani area. If they leave UNIFIL, they will be forced to submit to Israeli security procedures on their own.
Regarding this file, the sources revealed that Israel rejected a Lebanese offer to open a safe passage for them, accompanied by Lebanese security, to move freely to and from their towns located within an occupied area in the Bint Jbeil district. The proposal stipulated passage through the Tibnin road towards Beit Yahoun and Ain Ebel, but Israel rejected it.
Lebanon fears that it will be left alone after a path that caused it to lose the international umbrella, following the cancellation of the tripartite negotiations (Lebanon and Israel under the auspices of the United Nations) in Naqoura, and then the cancellation of the five-party negotiation framework (France and the United States were added to the tripartite framework and it was headed by an American general and was held at the United Nations center in Naqoura). The concerns reach the level of fear that the American guarantor will announce the end of his mission, which would leave Lebanon in direct contact with Israel, which Beirut rejects.
UNIFIL operates about 36 fixed military centers in the south of the Litani, some of which can be occupied by the Israeli army or destroyed others. It also conducts hundreds of patrols daily, noting that the number of patrols reached 410 per day in its areas of operations before the 2024 war. UNIFIL said in the statement: “The peacekeepers coming from 45 countries continue to carry out their daily tasks as usual in various parts of southern Lebanon until the end of the mission’s mandate, including monitoring developments.” And reporting them, communicating with the parties, supporting the Lebanese army, and facilitating humanitarian missions.”
Until the end of UNIFIL's mandate, diplomatic efforts to find an alternative did not stop. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterates his warning of the vacuum in the south, and his welcome of any international force undertaking the tasks of maintaining stability in the south.
On Friday, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated to the European Union Ambassador to Lebanon, Sandra de Waal, that “UN Resolution (1701) is the legal guarantor of Lebanon’s right to recover its entire territory up to the internationally recognized borders, and that the international emergency forces represent an operational framework for implementing the full provisions of this resolution.”
Lebanon proposed expanding the tasks of some United Nations observers, but Israel rejected the proposal. According to UNIFIL, “The Security Council is considering the options presented for the phase following the end of UNIFIL’s mandate, including monitoring and reporting activities along the Blue Line in the next phase. Decisions on any future arrangements rest with the Security Council.”
