Italy says it wants its military to stay in Lebanon even after UNIFIL’s mandate ends

Italy says it intends to keep a military presence in Lebanon even after the UN peacekeeping force it belongs to leaves as planned on December 31, 2026.

“Even after UNIFIL, Italy will continue to do its part, supporting with conviction the international presence and supporting the capacity development of the Lebanese armed forces,” Defense Minister Guido Crosetto says during a visit to Lebanon, according to a statement.

Asked by AFP if this means Italy wants to maintain a military presence in the country, a ministry spokesman confirms that this is the case.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon since 1978, remaining after Israel ended an occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000.

Lebanon had wanted UNIFIL to stay. But the UN Security Council voted in August to allow only one final extension for UNIFIL after pressure from Israel and its US ally to end the mandate.

UNIFIL is currently led by Italian Major General Diodato Abagnara and numbers 9,923 troops from 49 countries, according to the force’s website.

Italy is the second-biggest contributing country with 1,099 soldiers deployed, after Indonesia, which has 1,232 soldiers.

Israel has hailed the termination of UNIFIL and urged the Beirut government to exert its authority after an Israeli military campaign that devastated Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah. Jerusalem has charged that UNIFIL has completely failed to prevent Hezbollah from building up a major military presence along the border with Israel, with the terror group close to ordering a large-scale invasion after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.