Italy and France have agreed to form a coalition to support Lebanon following the conclusion of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mission.
According to Report, this was announced by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron following a bilateral summit in Antibes.
“The UN mission is due to end at the end of the year, and we have decided to form a coalition to support Lebanon and draw up a post-UNIFIL plan,” she said.
Meloni added that an international conference on Lebanon would be held in the near future.
According to her, the main objective is to guarantee security in the Middle East. “Italy and France have always had a presence in Lebanon, and so it is only natural that our countries should lead the international mission. We will not be starting from scratch. It is important to maintain the main objective – to guarantee the Lebanese authorities a monopoly on control over the territory. A clear and structured mandate is needed – something that UNIFIL may have lacked,” she added.
It should be recalled that the UNIFIL mission was established by the UN Security Council in 1978 following Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. It comprises around 8,200 personnel from 47 countries. UNIFIL’s main objectives are to monitor the cessation of hostilities, ensure access to humanitarian aid for the civilian population and facilitate the return of the Lebanese Armed Forces to the south of the country.
