UNIFIL: another UN organization that endangers Israel by refusing to do its job

Every day rockets are fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel by the terrorist group Hezbollah, funded by (of course) Iran with the purpose of destroying Israel.  (Israel only strikes back when Hezbollah does this, but never initiates firing.) Sometimes the Western press reports on this near constant rain of missiles, but often it doesn’t.

I haven’t, for example, seen much news about the Hezbollah rocket that actually hit an Israeli hospital last Thursday, but, thank Ceiling Cat, it didn’t explode.  However, the Hezbollah missile rain is near constant, for the group is located right up to the border between Lebanon and Israel. If Israel had fired such a rocket at Palestine, targeting only civilians in a hospital, the world would have been outraged.

Another thing that few people know, but should, is that the United Nations has a substantial force of “peacekeeping” troops in Lebanon—thousands of them—tasked with preventing terrorists from coming close to the Israeli border, and ensuring peace in the country.  But they don’t do their job, and nobody forces them to, as the troops are afraid of Hezbollah and the United Nations is cowardly and hypocritical. Hezbollah is located right up to the of Israel, and UN troops just observe and cower as the rockets are fired.

The troops are members of UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, originally established in 1978 to ensure Israel withdrew from Lebanon after a battle, and to buttress the elected Lebanese government—a parliamentary democracy— in running the country, as well as restoring security and peace in general. Later, in 2006, a UN resolution dictated that any terrorists were not to operate from south of the Litani River (in red below), which is about ten miles north of the border with Israel.

Unfortunately, the UN has failed. There is no peace and security in Lebanon. Hezbollah has become the de facto government of Lebanon: no ministers or President can be chosen without Hezbollah’s approval, and for the past two years there’s been no President of the country because Hezbollah hasn’t found one to its liking. Despite UN restrictions, Hezbollah operates south of the Litani River, where UN troops are supposed to be the only armed force, and fires rockets from that area.

Did I mention that the U.S. helps fund UNIFIL?

Why isn’t there an outcry about this egregious violation of a UN mandate? You already know, of course: it’s okay to violate a UN mandate if the violation is bad for Israel. (Look at UNRWA!)

The article below (click headline to read), which is short, gives you ten facts YOU NEED TO KNOW about UNIFIL, and yes, you do need to know these things. It’s from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a nonprofit think tank. If you doubt the claims, check them yourself.

I’ll quote just the first five facts, plus the last one on US funding, so you can see how the UN is operating in Lebanon. But it’s useful to read the whole short piece.

1. UNIFIL was established in 1978 to end war, restore peace and security

On March 11, 1978, Lebanese-based terrorists massacred 38 Israeli civilians near Tel Aviv, including more than a dozen children. Three days later, Israel invaded Lebanon to push terrorist groups away from Israel’s northern border. In response, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) called for Israel to withdraw and established UNIFIL on March 19, 1978, “for the purpose of confirming the withdrawal of Israeli forces, restoring international peace and security and assisting the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area.” Following the arrival of UNIFIL forces four days later, Israeli forces withdrew from hard-won positions in Lebanon.

2. Despite UNIFIL’s presence, Hezbollah’s military infrastructure dominates southern Lebanon

UNIFIL’s failure to counter Hezbollah has enabled an extraordinary military buildup by the Iran-backed group, including its accumulation of an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles. Israel assesses that Iran has helped Hezbollah establish facilities in Lebanon to convert rockets and missiles to precision-guided munitions potentially capable of penetrating Israeli defenses and striking significant, high-value targets throughout Israel. In October 2009, a large explosion occurred at a house containing a Hezbollah weapons cache south of the Litani River. Hezbollah immediately closed the area to UNIFIL and the LAF and, using large trucks, began transferring salvaged weapons to another location. The incident demonstrated UNIFIL’s basic acceptance of Hezbollah’s dominance in southern Lebanon.

3. UNSC Resolution 1701 expanded UNIFIL after a 2006 Hezbollah kidnapping triggered war (BOLDING WITHIN PARAGRAPHS BELOW IS MINE)

On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah operatives ambushed an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) patrol along the Israel-Lebanon border, killing eight soldiers and kidnapping two others. Israel responded with precision air strikes on Hezbollah assets, prompting the launch over the next month of some 4,000 Katyusha rockets targeting northern Israeli cities. At least 157 Israeli soldiers and civilians were killed during the 34-day war, with nearly 400,000 driven from their homes for the duration. An estimated 1,000 Lebanese were killed, including an unknown number of Hezbollah terrorists. Passed in August 2006, UNSC Resolution 1701 ended the hostilities, expanded UNIFIL, required Lebanon to assert its sovereignty in the south, forbade the rearming of terrorist groups, and required the “unconditional release” of the kidnapped soldiers — whose bodies Hezbollah only returned as part of a 2008 prisoner exchange with Israel.

4. UNIFIL’s mandate requires southern Lebanon up to the Litani River be exclusively peaceful

UN Security Council Resolution 1701 expanded UNIFIL’s mandate to have its peacekeeping force “accompany and support the Lebanese Armed Forces” as they deploy in the area between the Blue Line — the informal border with Israel — and the Litani River. The resolution charged UNIFIL with helping the LAF to establish “an area free of any armed personnel, assets, and weapons other than those of the Government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL.” UNIFIL is to ensure that its area of operations “is not utilized for hostile activities of any kind” and that the peacekeeping force “resist[s] attempts by forceful means to prevent it from discharging its duties.” However, despite the United Nations having strengthened and expanded its contingent of peacekeepers in Lebanon, Hezbollah is now the world’s most heavily armed non-state actor, with much of its arsenal concentrated in UNIFIL’s area of operations.

5. Hezbollah has repeatedly fired into Israel from UNIFIL’s area of operations

Since Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023, an estimated 100,000 residents of northern Israel have had to evacuate their homes due to the threat from Lebanon. On December 7, a guided missile attack from south Lebanon killed an Israeli civilian, one of 11 Hezbollah attacks that day, prompting Israeli threats of harsh retaliation if attacks continue. On December 9, 2023, Hezbollah launched several rockets at Israel, including one that originated 20 meters from a UNIFIL compound. UNIFIL acknowledges and condemns Hezbollah activity but does little else. As of January 9, 2024, 12 IDF soldiers and five Israeli civilians have been killed, and over 150 other Israelis injured, in hundreds of anti-tank missile, mortar, and drone attacks. Without naming Hezbollah, in late November, UNIFIL’s head of mission expressed his “deep concern” about the situation and “the potential for wider and more intensive hostilities.” Thus, Israel remains on the precipice of a two-front war in which it will have to confront not just Hamas but also a better-armed adversary on its northern border.

The only reason Hezbollah hasn’t crossed the border to attack Israel is because it knows that it wouldn’t win; Israel has the capability to pursue a two-front war.

. . . . . 10. The U.S. contributes substantial sums to sustain UNIFIL – with insufficient return on investment

The United States contributes annually to UNIFIL’s budget even as the peacekeeping body fails to fulfill its mission. In 2023, Congress appropriated $143 million to UNIFIL, accounting for over one-quarter of the peacekeeping body’s approximately $510 million budget. Since the war in 2006, Washington has spent more than $2.5 billion to support UNIFIL. The United States has likewise invested a similar amount in the LAF since 2006, a portion of which is intended to facilitate cooperation between the LAF and UNIFIL in southern Lebanon. Neither the LAF nor UNIFIL lacks the funding or manpower necessary to carry out its responsibilities. The problem is a lack of will.

The U.S. recently announced that its contributions to UNRWA are suspended for what may be a very long time, looking to funnel aid to Palestine through other organizations (17 other countries have also withdrawn funding). It should do the same with UNIFIL. The US should not be supporting UN organizations that foster terrorism or fail to stop it when that is their mission.