Paris security talks to weigh post-UNIFIL options for Lebanon

September 17, 2026 at 03:20 PM2 min

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European and Arab military chiefs meet in Paris on Thursday to assess Lebanese Armed Forces needs and discuss alternatives to the UNIFIL mission, which ends in January. French President Emmanuel Macron will chair the talks alongside Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Jordan's King Abdullah II. The meeting comes as Israeli forces continue attacks across southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire.

Key Facts

UNIFIL, with about 7,500 personnel, is set to end its nearly 50-year mission in January.
Neither the US nor Israel has signaled support for extending the UN mandate.
Israeli air attacks killed at least 13 people, including six children, in a southern Lebanese town last week.
The US will be represented by a senior military official involved in Middle East security issues.

The Paris Meeting

Thursday's talks will initially be chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron alongside Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Jordan's King Abdullah II. The United States will be represented by a senior military official involved in Middle East security issues. The meetings come after Israel and Lebanon held several rounds of US-brokered talks aimed at easing tensions along their border. A US-mediated framework deal was agreed between Israel and Lebanon in June, but the agreement did not force Israel to withdraw from the large area of southern Lebanon it occupies.

UNIFIL's Looming End

The most immediate concern of the meeting in Paris will be the security vacuum that could be left when the almost 50-year mission of UNIFIL, which has about 7,500 personnel, leaves in January. Despite Lebanon and France both favouring an extension of the UN mandate, neither the US nor Israel has signalled support for prolonging the mission. The officials in Paris will discuss options for a new international mission, backed by France and Italy, operating outside a UN mandate, as well as a possible European Union-led mission. Both concepts would reportedly focus on training, equipment, intelligence sharing, and mentoring support for the Lebanese Armed Forces. Paris said it wanted the operational context, parameters and modalities of the deployment to be clarified at Thursday's discussions, as a prerequisite for what it hopes will be robust international support for the Lebanese forces.

Continued Israeli Attacks

On Wednesday night, Israeli forces carried out a series of attacks across southern Lebanon, according to the country's National News Agency. Israeli air attacks killed at least 13 people, including six children, in a town in southern Lebanon last week, according to Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health. Fears of a renewed Israeli military campaign are growing in Lebanon after escalating attacks, despite a ceasefire that was intended to halt Israeli aggression and allow the thousands of displaced people in Lebanon to return home.