Berlin warns against a ‘security vacuum’ in Lebanon’s south once UNIFIL mandate expires at year’s end.

Germany has repeated calls for the European Union to send a force to Lebanon to replace United Nations peacekeepers (UNIFIL), which are due to withdraw at the end of the year.

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told broadcaster RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland on Friday that Berlin has proposed the mission to prevent the development of a “security vacuum” in Lebanon’s south.

He said that the force is needed to allow Israel’s army to withdraw from southern Lebanon, while also preventing Hezbollah from “returning with its terror”.

The Israeli military currently occupies several areas in southern Lebanon from where it has been launching strikes and operations that it says are aimed at the Iran-backed armed group, despite a ceasefire.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, has continued attacks across the border into northern Israel.

Amid the hostilities, pressure from the United States saw the UN Security Council agree last year to end UNIFIL’s 48-year mission.

“We should examine in the EU whether ⁠we can ensure that no security vacuum arises with a European mandate following the UNIFIL mission,” Wadephul said in an interview.

UNIFIL, deployed amid the first Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1978, has faced questions from all sides over its effectiveness, particularly its inability to prevent Israel’s deep advance into Lebanese territory during the war against Hezbollah.

In May, Israel advanced further into Lebanese territory than at any point since it ended a nearly two-decade occupation of the country’s south in 2000.

This has fed into debate over what mechanism should replace UNIFIL to prevent future conflict and provide relief to civilians.

The proposal is not new. Debate within the EU about sending a mission to Lebanon once UNIFIL withdraws has been under way for some time. Lebanon has offered its support to a potential EU-led mission.

However, officials in Brussels and military sources have suggested that any such mission would differ significantly from UNIFIL’s boots-on-the-ground peacekeeping model. Instead, it would likely involve support and training to help Lebanon’s military fill the void.

Wadephul’s comments come as Lebanon and Israel pursue a US-brokered process to end the war.

The two sides ended a sixth round of talks in Rome on Wednesday, focused on establishing “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon from which Israeli forces would begin withdrawing, in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah.