By Nohad Topalian | 2025-05-30

BEIRUT -- The close cooperation between the Lebanese army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeeping mission, which monitors the southern border, serves Lebanon's stability, experts said.

Since a ceasefire between Hizbullah and Israel came into effect November 27, UNIFIL has been a key player in achieving stability in the south.

With logistical and operational support from the peacekeeping mission, the army has established more than 120 permanent positions south of the Litani River, UNIFIL said May 12.

The mission has handed more than 225 weapons caches in the southern border area over to the army, it said.

The increased visible and organized presence of the Lebanese armed forces "constitutes a decisive step towards restoring state authority to a region long characterized by tensions," UNIFIL said.

With Hizbullah mandated to dismantle its infrastructure, UNIFIL has "increased its patrols and inspections" and neutralized a network of secret arsenals.

Each seizure "helps limit the ability of armed groups to inflict harm and reassures the civilian population," it said.

UNIFIL's essential role

UNIFIL's support for the Lebanese army is "crucial and essential in order to enable it to carry out its duties, particularly the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701," military expert Fadi Daoud told Al-Fassel.

"When the UN resolution was issued, UNIFIL supported the Lebanese army with 12,000 troops to carry out its missions in the south," he said.

"In the course of carrying out its tasks, UNIFIL encountered problems related to the strict implementation of Resolution 1701, due to Hizbullah's control of the south and its urging of its base to impede its implementation," he said.

UNIFIL's mandate "has recently been modified, giving it a stronger role and powers to enable it to implement UN resolutions and conduct patrols without escort by the Lebanese army," he said.

Cooperation in the field between the army and UNIFIL "serves Lebanon's stability to the greatest extent," Daoud said.

Restoring state authority

UNIFIL "contributed significantly to the destruction of Hizbullah's military infrastructure in the south," Southerners for Freedom coordinator Hussein Ataya told Al-Fassel.

It has shared "security information related to Hizbullah" that the army has cross-checked with its own information bank, he said.

"This information contributed to the army's raids on Hizbullah's infrastructure, bases, and military and security installations," he said.

The army's increased and organized presence and gradual deployment in the south constitutes "a very important step toward the Lebanese state regaining its authority over all of the southern territories," Ataya said.

It is beginning to establish the stability these regions yearn for, he added, noting that cooperation between UNIFIL and the army "confirms that the Lebanese authorities are reclaiming their territories."