NEW YORK, Aug 14 — Human Rights Watch has called on the United Nations to maintain a peacekeeping force in Lebanon after the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) expires at the end of this year, Palestine News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported.
UNIFIL, which has been deployed in southern Lebanon since 1978, currently comprises around 7,500 peacekeepers from approximately 50 countries.
The UN Security Council decided in August last year to end UNIFIL’s mandate on Dec 31, 2026.
Louis Charbonneau, Human Rights Watch’s UN Director, warned that ending UNIFIL’s mission without a strong international force to replace it would effectively leave millions of Lebanese civilians facing an uncertain and potentially catastrophic future.
“Peacekeepers are a crucial deterrent to attacks on civilians and human rights violations,” he said.
Human Rights Watch urged the UN to extend the peacekeeping mission until security conditions improve sufficiently to consider further reductions in the force.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has also said that peacekeepers will be needed in Lebanon after the current mandate expires, a proposal likely to face opposition from the United States and Israel.
