A UNIFIL patrol passes in front of a portrait of Hassan Nasrallah, in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon, on July 8, 2025. Mohammad Yassine/L’Orient-Le Jour
A U.N. Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) soldier stands at the entrance of the Shamaa base in the Sour district on a July afternoon. In front of his men, he points to the route on a map. Moments earlier, locals had blocked a patrol. They will have to take the same road again."We have to be careful," he says hurriedly before climbing into the armored vehicle. The political context The UNIFIL mandate in southern Lebanon wavers under US pressure There are 30 kilometers to cover. Driving along roads lined with Hezbollah and Amal symbols, the UNIFIL vehicles, blue flags fluttering, pass through villages scarred by war. Some residents there pay them no attention, chatting over coffee or sweeping outside their homes. Others stop and stare.Before reaching base without incident, the patrol passes a boy in a blue T-shirt who takes...
A U.N. Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) soldier stands at the entrance of the Shamaa base in the Sour district on a July afternoon. In front of his men, he points to the route on a map. Moments earlier, locals had blocked a patrol. They will have to take the same road again."We have to be careful," he says hurriedly before climbing into the armored vehicle. The political context The UNIFIL mandate in southern Lebanon wavers under US pressure There are 30 kilometers to cover. Driving along roads lined with Hezbollah and Amal symbols, the UNIFIL vehicles, blue flags fluttering, pass through villages scarred by war. Some residents there pay them no attention, chatting over coffee or sweeping outside their homes. Others stop and stare.Before reaching base without incident, the patrol passes a boy in a blue T-shirt who...
