As Israel and Hezbollah implemented a fragile cease-fire deal, questions are resurfacing about United Nations (U.N.) peacekeepers’ failure to enforce U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and whether its continued presence will continue to favor the Iran-backed terror group.
The cease-fire, brokered by the U.S. and France, took effect on Nov. 27 and aims to halt over a year of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Under its terms, Hezbollah is required to withdraw north of the Litani River, and Israeli forces will pull back from southern Lebanon within 60 days. The agreement marks a significant step but faces immediate challenges, with both sides accusing the other of violations. Against this backdrop, the role of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) is facing renewed scrutiny.
On Monday, Hezbollah launched two projectiles at Mount Dov, alleging Israeli cease-fire violations. Responding to the launches, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in Hebrew on X: “Hezbollah’s fire toward Mount Dov constitutes a serious violation of the cease-fire, and Israel will respond forcefully. We are determined to continue enforcing the cease-fire and to respond to any violation by Hezbollah-whether minor or severe.”
The cease-fire agreement is being implemented under a five-nation monitoring committee led by the U.S. to oversee the de-escalation process – an arrangement that U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein has referred to as a “game-changer” in addressing longstanding limitations.
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A Hezbollah weapons cache is located near a UNIFIL post by Israeli Defense Forces troops in southern Lebanon. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit.)
Javed Ali, a former U.S. counterterrorism official and an associate professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, highlighted UNIFIL’s challenges in enforcing U.N. Security Council resolution 1701. “The same issues are likely to manifest again under the revised UNSCR 1701, although in this current iteration, both the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL will be charged with overseeing the implementation of the resolution and ensuring that Hezbollah is unable to violate its terms or rebuild an operational infrastructure south of the Litani River that could once again threaten Israel.”
Ali also pointed to historical U.N. peacekeeping failures, such as those in Somalia, Rwanda and the Balkans, as cautionary examples. “In decades past, there are other examples of the limitations of U.N. peacekeeping elements to prevent either the outbreak or dramatic escalation of armed conflict between combatants in similarly small countries with complex ethnic, tribal, or religious divisions.”
A UNIFIL patrol drives past the wreckage of a car that was targeted in an Israeli strike early on March 2, 2024, near the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura. (AFP via Getty Images)
A documentary filmed in the southern Lebanon village of Houla a few weeks prior to the cease-fire captured Israeli reserve soldiers as they moved cautiously from house to house, clearing each room as they advanced through a Hezbollah stronghold. Gunfire erupted suddenly, forcing the troops to take cover as Hezbollah terrorists fired at them from nearby homes. The exchange intensified, with bullets cutting through the air, when an unexpected sight left the soldiers stunned: a UNIFIL convoy driving directly into the firefight.
The white U.N. vehicle crossed the road separating the Israeli soldiers from Hezbollah fighters, coming to a halt amid the smoke and chaos. A UNIFIL peacekeeper stepped out, seemingly oblivious to the life-threatening battle unfolding around him. “It was a total surprise. The IDF soldiers were shocked,” said Itai Anghel, an Israeli journalist embedded with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). “The timing of the convoy’s arrival, as well as its route, made the soldiers suspect coordination with Hezbollah.”
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The Palestinian flag and the flag of Hezbollah wave in the wind on a pole as peacekeepers from the UNIFIL patrol the border area between Lebanon and Israel on Hamames Hill in the Khiyam area of southern Lebanon on Oct. 13, 2023. (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)
Anghel, a veteran war reporter for the Israeli TV program “Uvda,” described the bizarre scene. “This was not my first time in Houla. I documented the battle here during the Second Lebanon War 18 years ago, but this time, it was worse,” he said. “Every second or third house in the village was packed with weapons – RPGs, rockets, tunnels – all aimed at storming Israeli villages just a few kilometers away.”
As the battle raged, Anghel witnessed the soldiers’ frustrations with UNIFIL’s presence. “They don’t trust them,” he told Fox News Digital. “One soldier even told me, ‘If we leave these villages for UNIFIL to manage, it will all revert to how it was before – nothing will change.’”
An IDF official told Fox News Digital that during the 14 months of fighting in South Lebanon, “We’ve seen Hezbollah use U.N. convoys to get close to the border – a Hezbollah car just entered the convoy and tagged along with them to safely gather intelligence. Cameras operated by Hezbollah have even been found on the fences of UNIFIL facilities. In one case, we discovered a massive tunnel just a few meters from a UNIFIL base. Think of the noise and effort required to dig a tunnel in stone – it’s impossible they didn’t know.”
A former special unit IDF fighter, who asked to stay anonymous, described what he witnessed during his service in southern Lebanon. “We’d see UNIFIL on one side and Hezbollah just meters away on the other,” he said. “Over time, Hezbollah became bolder, setting up tents right on the border. Everyone played the game – they knew Hezbollah was there, walking freely among them. And nothing was done.”
UNIFIL responded to the criticism by emphasizing its limited mandate. “The implementation of Resolution 1701 is the responsibility of the parties, Lebanon and Israel,” Andrea Teneti, a UNIFIL spokesperson, said. “UNIFIL supports the parties’ implementation, monitors, and reports on violations. We do not have the mandate to enforce the resolution, nor to disarm Hezbollah by force.”
The spokesperson pointed to the unprecedented period of stability from 2006 to 2023 as evidence of UNIFIL’s contributions, despite both parties failing to implement their obligations. UNIFIL acknowledged that the proliferation of weapons outside state control in southern Lebanon remains a violation of Resolution 1701, adding, “The removal of unauthorized weapons can only be achieved through the full implementation of Resolution 1701. There is no military solution.”
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Mourners raise their hands and chant slogans during the funeral procession of Hezbollah fighters who were killed in Friday’s Israeli strike, in the southern suburb of Beirut on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
“Since UNSCR 1701’s implementation, Hezbollah has successfully circumvented nearly all its conditions,” Ali told Fox New Digital, adding “By doing so, the group was able to create fortified bunkers, weapons caches, command posts for mobile fighting squads, and firing positions for rockets, mortars, and other projectiles used to attack Israeli civilian and military targets – which increased exponentially in the aftermath of October 7, 2023. By all accounts, UNIFIL did little to prevent this operational buildup or prevent the escalation in Hezbollah attacks after October 7.”
Following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Hezbollah opened another front in the war along the northern border, launching hundreds of rockets, anti-tank missiles and UAVs into Israeli territory. Alarmingly, many of these attacks originated near UNIFIL bases. “Over 430 Hezbollah projectiles have landed in and around UNIFIL outposts,” an IDF military official reported. “Yet the U.N. has only twice named Hezbollah explicitly as responsible for these attacks.”
“The actions of both the IDF and Hezbollah are putting peacekeepers in danger, whether through crossfire or deliberate acts”, said Teneti. “We name a party only when we are sure about the source of fire impacting the mission and Hezbollah has been mentioned several times as responsible for some of those attacks.”
The IDF has provided Fox News Digital with further evidence of Hezbollah’s violations, including fortified positions and training centers. In one instance, a Hezbollah facility packed with weapons and attack plans was discovered just 200 meters from a UNIFIL base. “You had to walk past the facility to even reach the U.N. base,” an IDF officer noted.
The IDF said its “soldiers are continuing to conduct limited, localized, targeted raids in southern Lebanon, eliminating Hezbollah terrorists and dismantling terror infrastructure and weapons stockpiles both above and below ground.” (IDF spokesman’s unit)
Michael, a former Danish soldier who served with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, reflected on his time in southern Lebanon. “Hezbollah controlled all the areas we were supposed to monitor,” he told the Danish newspaper BT. “We couldn’t operate at night out of fear, and taking photos was prohibited. Despite daily reports of violations, nothing happened.”
As more violations of the cease-fire are reported, Israeli officials are concerned that Hezbollah’s continued presence in southern Lebanon will lead to renewed violence, while UNIFIL insists its role is limited to monitoring and reporting.
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Experts believe that for now, the ceasefire has provided a momentary reprieve, but whether it can hold remains uncertain. With Hezbollah entrenched and Israel skeptical of UNIFIL’s efficacy, the peacekeeping mission’s role is more critical – and contested – than ever.
