As nearly 1 million displaced people in Lebanon return home, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is nearing the end of regular operations without a successor plan, leaving future monitoring unsettled.
Since September, the tally of displaced people back in their communities has risen 13% to almost 1 million. Another 304,500 people remain away from their areas of origin, the latest U.N. data show.
The Security Council voted unanimously in August 2025 not to renew UNIFIL’s mandate beyond 2026. Security Council Resolution 2790 sets Dec. 31, 2026, as the end of regular operations and allows up to a year for withdrawal, with limited duties during that period. It does not establish a replacement mission.
In an interview with UN News, UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said the council was weighing options but had not decided what would come next. Resolution 2790 asks the U.N. secretary-general to study monitoring options after UNIFIL and support for Lebanese army deployments south of the Litani River. No date for a council decision has been announced.
UNIFIL reported that hostilities fell significantly after a June agreement involving the United States, Lebanon and Israel. Ardiel said Israeli military activity continues in the south, including construction at military positions and on roads, demolitions, airstrikes and artillery fire. UNIFIL said a routine patrol near Wadi Jilu came under fire Tuesday. Peacekeepers returned fire, and the mission said the shooting stopped and no injuries were reported. It asked the Lebanese government to investigate promptly.
Ardiel said she was seeing children return to school as olive growers tried to salvage their harvests. Damaged electricity networks, water systems and roads are making daily life difficult in some villages, she said. UNIFIL also provides local jobs and supports the area’s economy, while many Lebanese staff members have lost homes or family members during the conflict, Ardiel told UN News.
She said ongoing military activity and uncertainty about the mission’s departure have left people concerned. Ardiel said impartial monitoring and international engagement remain important to Lebanon’s stability. UNIFIL expects withdrawal preparations to begin in January 2027.
