The Role of Hezbollah in South Lebanon and its Relations with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)

One can point out several reasons why the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have not been able to implement its mandate for more than 40 years. One of them would be the existence of an Islamic militant and terrorist group, Hezbollah. In fact, Hezbollah has filled the political vacuum since Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon in 2005. Currently, Hezbollah has gained popularity amongst Shiite Muslims, contributing to security, social and economic development. Hezbollah is now also politically recognized, making a coalition party. However, its status as a terrorist group has been consistent, threatening the international security. As far as Hezbollah is deployed in South Lebanon, Israel would continue challenging Hezbollah’s military intimidation and threat, which might result in another major warfare between them. In fact, one can identify several international agreements and UN resolutions on the disarmament of Hezbollah, although they have not been effective nor promising. In South Lebanon, Hezbollah took advantage of the cozy relations and even conspired with the local villagers, who helped conceal Hezbollah’s sizeable and sophisticated military equipment and prevented UNFIL from entering their personal properties. Such behaviors obviously decline the operational effectiveness of UNIFIL and increase the risk of the next warfare with Israel. Therefore, one can suggest multiple solutions to tackle this issue.