Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the United Nations to keep an international force in Lebanon after its peacekeepers’ mandate ends this year.

In August last year, the UN Security Council, under US pressure, decided to end Unifil’s mandate on December 31, 2026.

“Pulling the plug on Unifil without a robust international force in place would effectively abandon millions of Lebanese civilians to an uncertain and potentially disastrous fate,” says HRW’s UN director Louis Charbonneau.

“The peacekeepers are a crucial deterrent against attacks on civilians and human rights abuses,” he adds.

HRW urges the UN to extend the peacekeeping force’s mandate “until the security situation has improved sufficiently to consider further reducing the force”.