The European Union has created a mission to train Lebanon’s security forces, but its initial operating area stops before the southern zone patrolled by U.N. peacekeepers, leaving future monitoring there undecided.
The Council of the European Union established the European Union Support Mission in Lebanon (EUSM Lebanon) on Oct. 12. Its civilian and military components are intended to advise and train the Lebanese Armed Forces and Internal Security Forces. The mission still needs a separate launch decision after operational planning; its initial three-year term will begin at launch.
EUSM Lebanon will initially operate north of the Litani River. Activity south of it requires suitable political and security conditions, the Lebanese government’s agreement and a decision by the EU’s Political and Security Committee. The EU has set no launch date.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) operates between the Litani River and the Blue Line, which the United Nations identified to mark Israel’s withdrawal. Security Council Resolution 2790 directs UNIFIL to end regular operations on Dec. 31, 2026. It allows up to one year for withdrawal, during which the force may perform limited duties, but does not establish a successor.
UNIFIL said Oct. 16 that the Security Council was considering options, the subject of earlier EconoTimes coverage of post-UNIFIL monitoring. It gave no decision date. U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned that departure without strong alternative arrangements “would create a significant security vacuum.”
UNIFIL listed 7,565 peacekeepers from 46 countries as of Sept. 23. In July, it reported Israeli military activity north of the Blue Line and described Israel’s self-declared “Yellow Line” as an unrecognized military boundary. The United Nations says the Blue Line remains the relevant line and has called on Hezbollah and other armed groups to disarm as Lebanon seeks state control over weapons.
The transition comes as many people remain uprooted. The International Organization for Migration counted 329,686 internally displaced people across Lebanon as of Sept. 29, while 877,203 people had begun returning to their communities.
On June 4, the EU approved €100 million for the Lebanese Armed Forces through the European Peace Facility, bringing assistance through that facility to €182 million as of that date. The EU’s launch decision remains pending ahead of UNIFIL’s Dec. 31 operational deadline.
