On Lebanon’s 82nd independence day, UNIFIL chief says Lebanese army a ‘close partner in strengthening stability’

Marking Lebanon’s 82nd independence day, UNIFIL’s Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Diodato Abagnara says the Lebanese army’s redeployment is key to the country’s stability.

“On Lebanon’s 82nd Independence Day, UNIFIL remains committed to supporting the Lebanon Army — our close partner in strengthening stability in the south. Their full redeployment across south Lebanon is essential for extending state authority,” he writes on X.

UNIFIL has been deployed since 1978 to separate Israel and Lebanon, and numbers some 10,000 personnel from almost 50 countries. In August, the UN Security Council voted to end UNIFIL’s mission in 2027.

Israel has long argued that the observer force has failed in its mission, doing little to block Hezbollah from building up its forces near the Israeli border over decades.

Under the US-brokered November 2024 ceasefire — which halted a conflict sparked when Hezbollah began launching near-daily attacks on northern Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas invaded southern Israel — Hezbollah and Israel were both required to withdraw from south Lebanon, while UNIFIL deployed there alongside the Lebanese military, in part to help dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure.

Israel has maintained its troops in five locations it deems strategic, and has kept up regular strikes on what it says are Hezbollah targets violating the truce.