The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, received by peacekeepers in South Lebanon on April 17, 2025. Photo taken from the UNIFIL Telegram account.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, concluded a high-level visit to Lebanon on Friday, aimed at reaffirming the UN’s unwavering support for the “full” implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006).
The visit, which took place from April 16 to 18, 2025, “builds on that of Secretary-General António Guterres last January, at a critical time for the country’s stability and sovereignty,” said the office of the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL), Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, in a statement.
Visit to southern Lebanon
During her trip, DiCarlo visited southern Lebanon on Thursday, in the area of operations of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), to “see firsthand the impact of recent hostilities on villages along the Blue Line,” according to the UNSCOL statement. The UN’s number two reaffirmed “the organization’s support for the parties in upholding their commitments under the cessation of hostilities agreement, as well as for the full implementation of Resolution 1701 and other relevant Security Council resolutions.”
Adopted on Aug. 11, 2006, at the end of the 34-day conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Resolution 1701 notably provides for a cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, the deployment of the Lebanese army in the South, the disarmament of all armed groups, and the creation of a weapons-free zone between the Blue Line and the Litani River.
The cease-fire agreement concluded at the end of November 2024 to put an end to months of renewed clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army is based on this text. However, the implementation of the resolution and the truce agreement remains partial, as the Israeli army continues to occupy at least five positions in Lebanese territory along the Blue Line, and, according to the latest UN reports, Hezbollah, which has indeed transferred dozens of its military positions in the South to the Lebanese army, still maintains “active armed elements” in villages in the region.
‘Crucial reforms for the country’s recovery’
During her visit, DiCarlo also reiterated the United Nations’ support “for the Lebanese government in its efforts to extend the authority of the State over the entire territory and to advance a program of crucial reforms for the country’s recovery.”
In an interview with The Washington Post published Friday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who took office in February 2025, said that the Lebanese Army has reinforced its deployment in the south of the country in recent months, seizing Hezbollah’s weapons and dismantling its positions, as part of the ceasefire agreement negotiated by the United States.
The government has also set as a priority the implementation of structural reforms, particularly in the banking and judicial sectors, in order to restore citizens’ confidence in institutions. In this context, it has, over the past two weeks, approved a law on banking sector restructuring and another on banking secrecy, which have now been transmitted to Parliament and are part of the prerequisites demanded by the international community, notably the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in order to unlock financial aid.
