The UN Interim Force in Lebanon, which is intended to prevent Hezbollah from attacking Israel to the south, is largely viewed as a failure
The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) voted to reauthorize the body’s peacekeeping force in Lebanon one final time, allowing it to operate through 2026 before being dismantled.
The resolution, which the UNSC unanimously approved Thursday, will keep the 47-year-old U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in place through the end of next year before an “orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal” from Lebanon. The Trump administration had engaged in a behind-the-scenes push to terminate the agency’s mandate, an effort stemming from long-running criticism of UNIFIL’s failure to prevent Hezbollah-led attacks on Israel.
UNIFIL’s authority in Lebanon was set to expire this coming Sunday before the UNSC took action. While the United States had preferred an earlier end date, the Times of Israel reported the Trump administration did not object to an alternate French resolution with a 16-month timeline.
UNIFIL relies heavily on U.S. taxpayer dollars to stay afloat. The agency, which operates on an annual budget of $400 million to $500 million, receives about 30 percent of its funding from the United States. That money, the Washington Free Beacon reported earlier this month, goes not only toward arming and training troops but to left-wing programs for peacekeeping forces as well.
The agency, for instance, uses part of its budget to fund “gender diversity” training and lessons on “gender mainstreaming in military operations.” It employs a “Military Gender Advisor,” runs a “Gender Task Force” for its navy, and maintains “gender-sensitive accommodations” at its bases.
UNIFIL touted a “Resilience through Yoga” program featuring “yoga asanas, meditation & Ayurveda to boost peacekeepers’ physical stamina, mental focus & emotional well-being” on social media earlier this month.
The agency’s decision to spend money on progressive causes, coupled with its inability to prevent Hezbollah from attacking Israel, led the Trump administration to push for its dissolution.
“UNIFIL is wasteful, woke, ineffective, and an enabler for Hezbollah,” a U.S. official told the Free Beacon. “It’s long overdue that we end this failed mission.”
The Trump administration and congressional Republicans made some headway in doing so in July, when President Donald Trump signed a rescissions package that clawed back about $158 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars from UNIFIL.
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) will take over UNIFIL’s peacekeeping mission and work to prevent Hezbollah from rearming and reestablishing bases along Israel’s northern border. While the LAF historically worked in tandem with the terrorist organization, the Lebanese government agreed to begin purging Hezbollah from the country as part of a November 2024 ceasefire deal with Israel.
LAF soldiers have already begun destroying Hezbollah’s infrastructure in southern Lebanon, including its weapons depots, with the help of Israeli intelligence. The Israeli military reportedly assessed in late March there are “areas where the Lebanese army is way more effective than expected.”
Pressure from the United States led the Lebanese government to give the LAF an Aug. 31 deadline to present a final plan to disarm all militia groups within the country’s borders.
