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UNIFIL’s mandate is about to expire at the end of August 2020 and many people are debating whether the Security Council should extend UNIFIL’s mandate yet again. When established in 1978, the mandate, in addition to resolution 1701 clearly state that UNIFIL will restore international peace and security, ensure the return of the Lebanese government’s effective authority in the area, and enforce parts of resolution 1701. Although I think UNIFIL has completely failed in its mission and is mostly useless, if it is renewed, I believe the UN should now only allow, but force, UNIFIL to be more active in exercising its mandate in Lebanon.
For months, UINFIL has failed to assume any basic role in enforcing the UN Security Council resolution 1701 which prohibits Hezbollah from being south of the Litani river and calls for its disarmament. UNIFIL knows darn well the Hezbollah is roaming freely in southern Lebanon and is doing nothing about it. They are not even holding the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) accountable. Just look as recent incidents where Hezbollah has cut the international border in 3 locations, sent civilians to the border to test the IDF, and left suspicious object by the fence to examine how the IDF handles such a scenario. It turns out that Hezbollah even dug numerous tunnels into Israel right under UNIFIL’s nose.
In the past week, as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah grew, Israel tried sending messages to Hezbollah through the UN. Is that what we can expect from UNIFIL? To be a messenger between the two sides? I don’t think Israel nor Lebanon need the UN for that. Countries such as France, Switzerland or the United States can easily fill that role.
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