42nd Anniversary of UNIFIL Calls for a Renewed Focus on Hezbollah

(New York, N.Y.) – March 19 marks the 42nd anniversary of U.N. Security Council Resolutions 425 and 426, which created the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) following Israel’s March 1978 operation to root out Palestinian militants in south Lebanon.  The Security Council’s goal behind creating UNIFIL was to prompt Israel’s immediate withdrawal from south Lebanon and thwart the presence of armed non-state actors on its northern border.  Fast forward to 2020, the Israeli occupation is over, but Iran’s proxy Hezbollah has replaced the Palestinian armed factions as the primary threat on Israel’s northern border. 

The Party of God has steadily expanded its presence in south Lebanon, despite UNIFIL’s upgraded presence and strengthened mandate after the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War.  Last year, there were reports of Hezbollah attacking a UNIFIL patrol.  Hezbollah’s meddling in Syria has also made it necessary to expand the mandate of UNIFIL to include the Syrian-Lebanese border, though this has yet to be done.

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) maintains resources which catalogue and analyze the threat from Hezbollah.  UANI’s Eye on Hezbollah provides a comprehensive timeline, tracking the Party of God’s rise. In an analysis report, UANI also explores the need to expand UNIFIL’s mandate to account for the current threat landscape, particularly Iran’s ambitions to establish precision missile factories in Lebanon by using Syria as a transport corridor.

To explore UANI’s resource, Eye on Hezbollah, please click here.

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