Lebanon’s Aoun backs French-Italian initiative for multinational force to succeed UNIFIL

By AFP 26 June 2026, 11:30 am

3 Edit

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun speaks during a press conference after the EU Summit in Nicosia, Cyprus, April 24, 2026. (AP/Petros Karadjias)

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanese President Joseph Aoun welcomes France and Italy’s efforts to set up a multinational coalition to succeed the UN peacekeeping force in his country, whose mandate expires at the end of the year.

In a statement, Aoun calls the initiative “a sincere expression of the international commitment to supporting Lebanon’s sovereignty and stability.”

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France and Italy “want to launch a coalition for the post-UNIFIL arrangement, obviously in coordination with the European Union and the United Nations, to strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty and that of its armed forces” and prevent its territory from being “a foothold for regional escalation.”