Lebanon

On August 31, 2023, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2695 renewing UNIFIL's mandate in south Lebanon for another year. Thirteen countries voted in favor; Russia and China abstained. Since the establishment of UNIFIL, the renewal of the mandate had been a routine procedure taking place every year at the end of August. This year, however, under the pretext of maintaining Lebanon's sovereignty, the Lebanese government and Hezbollah exerted strong pressure to undermine UNIFIL's power and limit its activities to those approved by the Lebanese army. During deliberations, the Security Council condemned the violations of both sides along the border and called on the parties to honor their commitments and help promote a permanent ceasefire. The Security Council also charged the Lebanese government with the responsibility of keeping south Lebanon demilitarized, except for the arms in the hands of the government, and asked UNIFIL to be deployed in south Lebanon in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1701. In ITIC assessment, the resolution as passed will not change the nature of UNIFIL's activities in south Lebanon. Lebanese army cooperation with UNIFIL will be limited as before and Hezbollah will do everything in its power to preserve and expand its freedom of action in south Lebanon, even at the cost of confrontations with UNIFIL. Read more...