French peacekeepers from the UNIFIL French contingent in Tyre, in July 2025. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient Today.).
BEIRUT — The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) resumed last week, at the request of the government, its "humanitarian demining operations" in southern Lebanon, after nearly two years of suspension due to "exchanges of fire across the Blue Line," according to a statement published Wednesday on UNIFIL's website.
The aim is to "reduce risks faced by civilians living in or visiting areas close to the Blue Line, particularly in the aftermath of the recent conflict."
Demining experts from Cambodia and China have started working in two minefields located near Blida (Marjayoun district) and Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil district), covering a total area of around 18,000 square meters, according to the peacekeepers.
The statement further notes this initiative is part of the memorandum of understanding signed between UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army last March, aimed at strengthening cooperation in the field of demining, "which will ultimately contribute to expanding state authority."
24 teams
In parallel, UNIFIL is continuing its own demining operations inside and around its bases, as well as in areas adjacent to Blue Line markers, the statement said.
It also mentions that UNIFIL had increased its operational capacity to 24 specialized teams for reconnaissance, demining, and explosives neutralization, up from only nine teams in October 2023. This enhanced capacity now allows the mission to undertake additional tasks, including clearing roads and detecting and disposing of unexploded ordnance.
UNIFIL's mandate was extended in southern Lebanon at the end of August for a final time by the Security Council. By the end of 2026, the interim force will have to begin a withdrawal plan expected to last a year, thus ending by late 2027. The United States and Israel have not hidden their opposition to the U.N. presence in southern Lebanon, deeming it ineffective given Hezbollah's expansion in the region since the end of the 2006 war.
The cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah was adopted in November 2024, ending more than a year of war that left Hezbollah weakened and stripped of its historic leadership.
UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army have since cooperated to ensure its disarmament south of the Litani, bearing in mind that the party's surrender of arms is now subject to a Lebanese government decision.
