2025-12-16

90. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Defence to confirm her engagement with the UN Security Council on the plan to withdraw UN peacekeeping troops from Lebanon, with recent accusations from Israel on alleged rearming of Hezbollah; the number of complaints UNIFIL has made to the IDF on its military fire on UN peacekeeping troops in Lebanon; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71591/25]

I congratulate the Minister on her appointment and wish her every success in the role. Will she outline what engagements she has had with UNIFIL about the security of Defence Forces' personnel in Lebanon? Has she identified any additional security threats in view of the decision to end the mission there?

We have been absolutely committed to the UNIFIL mission for many years. Like, I think, many people, we would prefer not to see it come to an end towards the end of next year. Obviously, we will ensure that our troops who are there are able to carry out those missions. I hope we can look beyond 2026 and still have a presence on the ground because it is still very much needed. I had an opportunity yesterday to meet with my Lebanese colleague Youssef Rajji, who is the minister for foreign affairs, and speak to him about the situation on the ground, which is still extremely difficult and fragile. The security situation itself is feeding into an increased level of tension in certain areas, so we need to be vigilant. The Irish Government remains firmly committed to assisting Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in southern Lebanon, and committed to UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, in support of this overall aim. In this regard, I can confirm that the Department of Defence maintains continuous and active engagement with the UN system, both bilaterally and via our permanent representation to the UN in New York, as well as with Security Council interlocutors, on the evolving situation in southern Lebanon, in particular, and on all matters relating to UNIFIL. At the end of October, senior officials in my Department met with the UN secretariat, including the Under-Secretary-General for peacekeeping, Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, and the Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support, Mr. Atul Khare, to discuss operational issues relating to Ireland's participation in the UNIFIL mission. Negotiations on the renewal of the UNIFIL mandate over the summer, led by France, as we all know, proved challenging, reflecting differing views among Security Council members. In the weeks leading up to the mandate renewal, the Tánaiste and then Minister for Defence closely engaged with our partners, including Lebanon, France, Italy, the US and the UN, in support of attaining a mandate extension. On 28 August the UN Security Council renewed the UNIFIL mandate to the end of 2026, with a period of drawdown and withdrawal to follow in 2027. Yesterday, at the EU-Lebanon Association Council in Brussels, I underlined the pressing need for reconstruction supports for Lebanon, the very challenging humanitarian situation being faced there, and the ongoing need for the EU to assist Lebanon. I also highlighted to the Lebanese minister for foreign affairs, as I said, the need to make sure that not only civilians on the ground but also our peacekeeping troops are safe and that we engage extensively and closely with the Lebanese army in that regard.

Irish men and women have served with such distinction over many years in Lebanon. The Minister is right: it is such a regrettable decision that the mission would not continue. Nonetheless this decision of UNIFIL and the mission not going on leave a void once the force starts to scale down its numbers and the possibility of a scramble to fill that void, whether from one side or another there. That is a threat both to people locally there and to the troops themselves. Has the Minister identified particular threats in that regard? Are steps being taken to ensure that the Irish people who will be there as that scale-down occurs will remain safe and will be able to conduct a peacekeeping mission there? In addition, there have been incidents where the IDF has fired on them. Has the Minister complained to UNIFIL in that regard? If so, what has been the response?

In relation to the final question, not every incident is necessarily relayed or the subject of a complaint made in terms of overall complaints to UNIFIL and the Israel Defense Forces concerning military fire, whether on Irish personnel or otherwise. This information is not ordinarily provided by the UN. There are situations and scenarios where we have made complaints and have raised this. Again, that is something I highlighted with the Lebanese minister for foreign affairs yesterday as essential - not only that civilians are protected but also that those peacekeeping troops, our troops, who are doing fantastic work on the ground, are protected and that the Lebanese army as well is there to support them. I think the next couple of months will be challenging but I reassure the Deputy and everybody else that, as our troops scale back and scale down over the next year, they will continue their peacekeeping mission, they will continue doing the fantastic work they are trained to do and, at all stages, the situation will continue to be assessed. I have spoken to the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces about this. He has been very clear that, as the mission scales back, our troops will be kept safe, and if changes need to be made in how they carry out their work, that will happen. However, we need to look beyond next year. I hope there will be a space for Irish peacekeeping troops as well as other troops to be able to fill that space in some way and to continue to have a presence on the ground, which, given the security situation, I think will still be needed.

I need to return to the original question. Has the Minister identified additional threats locally there, particularly in view of the changing situation and the reduction in the numbers of Irish troops there over the course of days, weeks, months or whatever length of time that will take? There is likely to be some level of additional threat there. Have any threats been identified from either side? To return to the point about Irish troops having been fired on by the IDF and the challenges the Minister may have made to UNIFIL in that regard, how have they responded, what level of commitment will they give that people will be safe during the transition, and have they given any commitment thereafter?

I reiterate that this is a changing environment. It is most certainly a challenging environment, in particular the ongoing situation with Hezbollah in the south of Lebanon. The Lebanese Government is grappling with and trying to respond to this. The decision has been taken to end UNIFIL. We need to ensure that while our troops are there, they are still engaged in the mission they are committed to and are kept safe. I reaffirm the fact that the period of transition for any missions is challenging. It needs to be planned carefully and that is certainly what the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, working with his excellent team, is doing. They are making sure that the safety and security of our UNIFIL peacekeepers are front and centre in everything we do. Those considerations remain of paramount importance and will continue to be in the months ahead.