Lebanon navigates UN peacekeeping mandate renewal

From Monday until Thursday, Lebanon is engaged in political and diplomatic discussions over the United Nations' decision to renew the international peacekeeping forces' mandate in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese delegation in New York, led by the caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, is holding a series of meetings with representatives of the member states of the Security Council. 

Furthermore, these meetings are the final ones before drafting the blue text of the resolution, which is the ready-to-vote final edition.

This comes after amendments were made to the draft based on observations made by the Lebanese side regarding several provisions and terms.

The discussion is ongoing about clauses 16 and 17 concerning the mandate and freedom of movement of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and whether the final version will maintain UNIFIL's freedom of movement without prior approval from the Lebanese Army.

However, Lebanon aims to revert the text to what it was before 2021, emphasizing the coordination and movement relationship with the Army in the south.