UN peacekeeping chief in Lebanon says smooth transition is critical before pull-out

UNIFIL head Major General Diodato Abagnara said UNIFIL was already working with the UN’s country team to ensure humanitarian assistance in areas where the peacekeeping force will withdraw from.

The head of United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon said on Saturday that it was critical to ensure other UN agencies and Lebanese troops could assume the tasks the force carries out before it begins withdrawing at the end of this year.

Major General Diodato Abagnara of Italy spoke to Reuters in southern Lebanon from a position operated by the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, which has allegedly monitored hostilities in southern Lebanon for nearly 50 years.

Since a new war erupted after Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah attacked Israel in March, the force has also provided security escorts for humanitarian aid convoys to residents in a small cluster of predominantly Christian southern Lebanese towns where the IDF is fighting Hezbollah.

Residents in much of the rest of southern Lebanon have been displaced due to Hezbollah embedding itself in civilian areas, necessitating their evacuation before strikes against Hezbollah can be carried out.

The UN Security Council has ordered UNIFIL to begin withdrawing at the end of 2026, triggering concerns over whether aid deliveries can continue and how the force can transfer its positions to Lebanese troops.

“There are other United Nations entities here in the south, and so what is very important for us (is) to conduct a very smooth transition to different entities, or for the future of a new mission,” Abagnara told Reuters.

He said UNIFIL was already working with the UN’s country team to ensure humanitarian assistance in areas where Hezbollah has embedded itself and information sharing with the Lebanese army about “sensitive areas (and) how they can manage this situation.”

Abagnara acknowledged that it could be “very difficult” to hand over some of UNIFIL's posts to Lebanese troops given that more than half lie within areas where the IDF took control after clearing Hezbollah terror infrastructure.

Israel working to clear Hezbollah infrastructure built near UN post

Diplomats worry UNIFIL’s departure will mean an end to the UN's "eyes and ears" in southern Lebanon.

Abagnara spoke to Reuters at a position overlooking Mansouri, a town where Israeli forces have been carrying out demolitions since ordering residents to leave in June so Hezbollah terror infrastructure could be cleared. Reuters reporters could see excavators in the town knocking down trees and homes.

Abagnara claimed that the demolitions are “another violation” of UN Security Council resolutions on Lebanon. Israel's military has said it is destroying Hezbollah infrastructure across southern Lebanon, which was built while UNIFIL was stationed in the area.

Lebanese army efforts to disarm Hezbollah stall

As a US-backed plan for Lebanon's army to disarm Hezbollah and take control of southern Lebanon has stalled, a diplomatic scramble is underway to address the vacuum that will be left by UNIFIL’s withdrawal.

Lebanon wants an extension. Other countries have discussed a new multinational mission, though it remains unclear what kind of mandate it would have.

Abagnara said an extension would be “a great honor” but that without a new Security Council decision, his force would need to stop operating at the end of the year.

“It's not a long time," he said. "The presence of United Nations in the South is very, very essential. And according to me, more now than ever.”