The mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon will be renewed one final time on Thursday morning, a reliable diplomatic source told JNS.
The U.S. mission to the United Nations confirmed to JNS that the vote will take place but said it could not preview its position.
UNIFIL is tasked with monitoring the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire and helping the Lebanese Armed Forces disarm Hezbollah and restore Lebanese government control to the south of the country. Its current mandate is slated to expire on Sunday. (JNS sought comment from the Israeli mission to the United Nations.)
The Trump administration has called the mission an “abject failure,” in light of Hezbollah’s military buildup, leading to nearly a year of almost daily attacks on Israel during the Israel-Hamas war before the Jewish state dismantled the terror group’s leadership and infrastructure.
The White House got Congress to approve canceling tens of millions of dollars in unspent UNIFIL funding, and Washington turned down a French-led U.N. Security Council draft resolution, which failed to include a definitive end date for the mission.
The newest French draft, which JNS viewed, calls for the council to “extend for a final time the mandate of UNIFIL” until Dec. 31, 2026.
It also says that “an orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal” must begin within a year of the mandate’s expiration and calls for Israel to withdraw forces north of the so-called Blue Line, the unofficial border between Israel and Lebanon.
