Ambassador Haley on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon

August 23, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Today, the UN Security Council held consultations on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Since 2006, UNIFIL's deployment to southern Lebanon was supposed to make sure that Hizballah would no longer use this territory to stockpile weapons that could destabilize the region. Today, Hizballah openly boasts about its illegal stockpile of weapons and publicly threatens Israel's destruction. In April, Hizballah fighters showed off their weapons on a tour for journalists – posing for photographs with their weapons just a few kilometers from UNIFIL's headquarters.

"UNIFIL has a vitally important mission. Regrettably, it is not pursuing its mission aggressively, and the security situation in southern Lebanon has become much more dangerous. The Security Council cannot adopt a business-as-usual approach when so much is at stake. We call on the members of the Security Council to join us in taking real action to make UNIFIL a stronger peacekeeping mission and to stand up against forces of terror in Lebanon and around the region," said Ambassador Haley.