The mounting evidence of Hezbollah’s exploitation of UNIFIL positions, combined with the force’s inability to report or monitor these violations, demonstrates that UNIFIL’s presence is not only ineffective but dangerous.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has utterly failed in its core mission of monitoring Hezbollah’s activities in southern Lebanon and enforcing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which bans non-government military forces in Southern Lebanon (U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 calls for the disbanding of all non-state armed forces anywhere in Lebanon).
The intended role of UNIFIL was to ensure that 1701 was being upheld, monitor violations and ensure that Hezbollah did not re-arm and re-establish its military capabilities south of the Litani River after the 2006 Lebanon War. However, in practice, the force has become a passive bystander and, more disturbingly, a human shield for Hezbollah’s attacks on the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli civilians. This is becoming disruptive to IDF operations in Southern Lebanon.
UNIFIL’s mandate was first established in 1978 and later enhanced in 2006 through Resolution 1701. The primary goal was to assist the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in creating a buffer zone between the Blue Line (the Lebanese-Israeli border) and the Litani River, free of any armed personnel other than Lebanese and UNIFIL forces. Resolution 1701 also called for the disarmament of all militias, including Hezbollah. Despite these mandates, Hezbollah’s military infrastructure has only grown massively over the years—and UNIFIL failed to notice or document this in any of its reports, turning its activities into a farce.