China Calls UN to Revisit Lebanon Peacekeeping Mission Decision

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China’s ambassador to the United Nations, Fu Cong.

China’s ambassador to the United Nations, Fu Cong, said on Friday that there is a need to revisit the United Nations Security Council decision to end the mandate of a long-running peacekeeping mission in Lebanon at the close of this year.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), established in 1978, patrols southern Lebanon along the border with Israel. Last year, the Security Council unanimously agreed to begin withdrawing the mission at the end of 2026.

Speaking as China assumed the presidency of the Security Council for May, Fu expressed concern over the situation in Lebanon, noting that there is no genuine ceasefire in place, but rather what he described as a “lesser fire.”

"It is incumbent on Israel to stop this bombardment of Lebanon," he told reporters.

More than 2,500 people have been killed in Israeli strikes across Lebanon since 2 March, when the armed group Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in support of its ally Iran, triggering an Israeli ground and air campaign that has left large areas of southern Lebanon in ruins.

Israel’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, Israel maintains that its military operations in Lebanon are aimed at preventing further attacks by Hezbollah militants.

Responding to a question about the UNIFIL mandate, Fu said: "We do believe we should revisit the decision actually to withdraw the UNIFIL."

Fu said he had spoken recently about the issue to ⁠UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He said the UN secretariat was thinking about a review and would come up with options in June for the implementation of UN resolution 1701 that ended a round ⁠of deadly conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.

"I think at least the view of the overwhelming majority of the Security Council is that this is not the time ⁠to redraw UNIFIL," Fu said.

UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said last month that some form of ongoing UN presence might continue after the UNIFIL mandate ends.

Source: Reuters



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