China says UN should revisit Lebanon peacekeeping mission decision

China's ambassador to the United Nations said on Friday that there was a need to revisit the U.N. Security Council's decision to end the mandate of a longrunning peacekeeping mission in ‌Lebanon at the end of this year.

The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), established in 1978, patrols Lebanon's southern border with Israel. Last year, the Security Council unanimously agreed to begin a withdrawal of the mission at the end of 2026.

Envoy Fu Cong said China, which has taken over the presidency of the Security Council for ⁠May, was concerned about the situation in Lebanon. He said there was no real ceasefire in place, only a "lesser fire."

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

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 ⁠U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He said the U.N. secretariat was thinking about a review and would come up with options in June for the implementation of U.N. 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.

Reuters