US supports one-year extension of UNIFIL mandate in Lebanon
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The US, through envoy Tom Barrack, has voiced support for a one-year extension of the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon, and a new draft resolution outlining plans to end the peacekeeping operation by 2027.
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French U.N. peacekeepers patrol the Lebanese-Israeli border in the village of Kfra Kila, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
US envoy Tom Barrack announced Tuesday, August 26, that the United States will support extending the mandate of the UNIFIL peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon for one more year, despite ongoing diplomatic disagreements over the mission’s long-term future.
“The United States' position is we will extend for one year,” Barrack told reporters during a visit to Lebanon’s presidential palace, while also noting critically that the mission costs “a billion dollars a year.”
According to a draft resolution seen by AFP, the new proposal would extend the mission until December 31, 2026, and initiate a full withdrawal by the end of 2027. The text recommends starting an “orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal” within one year of that date.
The vote on the mission’s future, originally scheduled for Monday, was postponed due to US and "Israeli" opposition to the earlier French-drafted text, several diplomatic sources confirmed.
Read more: US envoy Barrack calls Lebanese journalists 'animalistic"'
Italy and France defend peacekeepers’ role
The issue was discussed in a call on Monday, August 25, between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and European counterparts, according to the Italian foreign ministry.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot reaffirmed the importance of UNIFIL’s support for the Lebanese army, particularly “in the current international situation and for balance in the broader regional context,” the ministry said.
UNIFIL, originally deployed in 1978, remains a key component of Lebanon’s border stability amid tensions with "Israel".
