UNIFIL prepares to end mission as French troops plan 2027 withdrawal

UNIFIL, deployed since March 1978, is scheduled to finish its mandate in December, marking the end of a decades-long peacekeeping presence in southern Lebanon. The French component, numbering roughly 700 troops, will withdraw from the Deir Kifa base in May 2027, after which the site will be transferred to the Lebanese army. The region around the base has been depopulated, its villages previously used by Hezbollah as defensive positions and later struck by Israeli forces.

Israel now controls a ten-kilometre strip of Lebanese territory, with its soldiers and UN convoys traveling the "blue line" that separates the two sides. Photographer Edouard Elias captured daily life at the UN outpost, offering a rare, intimate view of the soldiers' work under Israeli dominance. The article is behind a subscription wall, limiting further details.