Ending the war and securing Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon would require an international force on the ground -- a replacement for UNIFIL that Lebanon is discussing with European powers. File Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Lebanon, struggling to secure an Israeli withdrawal from occupied parts of southern Lebanon and restore its sovereignty, is facing another challenge: preserving a United Nations role in the south after the current peacekeeping force leaves, Lebanese and Western analysts said.
Without an U.N.-mandated international presence, Lebanon risks losing an important source of protection and leverage and could find itself increasingly at the mercy of Israel and the United States -- the two countries that have pushed hardest to terminate the U.N. peacekeeping mission.
The issue is gaining urgency, as the mandate of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL -- originally established after Israel's first invasion of southern Lebanon in 1978 to help confirm an Israeli withdrawal and assist the Lebanese government in re-establishing its authority -- is to expire at the end of this year.
Ironically, UNIFIL, tasked with maintaining peace in southern Lebanon for nearly five decades, is scheduled to leave as Lebanon once again negotiates -- this time through U.S.-brokered direct talks with Israel -- a new Israeli withdrawal and the future security of its southern territory.
