Macron Pushes European Troop Mission in Lebanon as UNIFIL Nears Dec. 31 End
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Nov 10
Macron Pushes European Troop Mission in Lebanon as UNIFIL Nears Dec. 31 End
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Nov 10
Summary
Marco Rubio said Washington is discussing a post-UNIFIL mechanism with France but signaled it could be civilian, not military, to verify Israeli withdrawal, Lebanese army deployment and Hezbollah’s exclusion from vacated areas.
Thousands of European troops are being considered under Paris’s plan, yet the force’s size, mandate and contributors remain unsettled, and Italy does not back sending its troops under the current French proposal.
Mike Waltz said UNIFIL “in its current form will not continue,” underscoring U.S. support for drawing down the mission rather than preserving the existing peacekeeping structure.
June’s U.S.-brokered framework tied phased Israeli withdrawal to verified disarmament and Lebanese force deployment, but implementation has stalled, Hezbollah still refuses to disarm and Israeli troops remain in parts of southern Lebanon.
France’s push also faces questions over resources and strategy as Macron confronts domestic budget strain and protests, while critics argue Paris should use its leverage in Beirut instead of replacing one foreign force with another.
As the December deadline looms, who will protect the thousands of civilians in southern Lebanon if European allies refuse to deploy replacement troops?
With UNIFIL ending next month, can a civilian monitoring team realistically disarm Hezbollah where decades of military peacekeeping completely failed?