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French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing ahead with plans for a new European military presence in Lebanon while struggling with mounting political and economic turmoil at home, even as the initiative encounters resistance from a key European partner and Washington considers an alternative that may not require troops.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that he had discussed the future of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with Macron, suggesting that a replacement monitoring mechanism could be civilian rather than military.
"It doesn't have to be a military mission. It could be a civilian mission," Rubio said in remarks published Tuesday.
Rubio explained that the administration is seeking a credible mechanism to verify arrangements under which Israeli forces withdraw from designated areas, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) assume control and the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah is prevented from returning.
Soldiers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon UNIFIL attend a ceremony marking the International Day of UN Peacekeepers in Naqoura, Lebanon, May 29, 2025. (Ali Hashisho/Xinhua via Getty Images)
He suggested France could play a constructive role but emphasized that any arrangement would require agreement from both Lebanon and Israel.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz also made clear that Washington has no intention of preserving the existing peacekeeping mission.
"UNIFIL in its current form will not continue, and it must not continue — we are working with our international partners to draw down the mission and ensure that the Lebanese people can choose their own future and to ensure that the Lebanese Armed Forces can secure the nation’s future," Waltz told Fox News Digital.
French President Emmanuel Macron reviews the troops during his visit to the nuclear submarine navy base of Ile Longue in Crozon, France, March 2, 2026 (Yoan Valat /Pool via Reuters)
The French initiative, meanwhile, envisions a multinational force potentially involving thousands of European troops to support the Lebanese army as UNIFIL prepares to end its nearly five-decade mission. The proposed force's final size, mandate and participating countries remain unconfirmed.
However, Italy, which previously joined France in calling for an international coalition following UNIFIL's withdrawal, does not support deploying its troops under the proposal currently advanced by Paris, three sources with knowledge of the discussions told Fox News Digital.
The initiative comes as Macron faces growing domestic pressure, with France experiencing widespread demonstrations over rising living costs, wages and deteriorating public services.
The unrest has further complicated the government's efforts to pass its 2027 budget, as mounting debt and political divisions limit its room to maneuver, Reuters reported Nov. 5.
Against that backdrop, France's proposed deployment raises questions about the financial and military resources Paris could commit to another overseas mission, particularly without firm support from its European partners.
Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, senior envoy for Europe at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, argued that replacing UNIFIL with another international military force risks repeating the shortcomings of the existing mission.
"UNIFIL’s mandate should end as scheduled. Hezbollah built up its military presence in southern Lebanon with international peacekeepers already on the ground. Keeping troops there under a new mandate would repeat an approach that failed to prevent that buildup. The basis for what comes next should be the U.S.-brokered agreement Israel and Lebanon reached in June. France can help both sides put it into practice and move further," Rodan-Benzaquen told Fox News Digital.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sits with France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot during the G7 foreign ministers summit at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris to discuss support for Ukraine and stabilization efforts in the Middle East. Nov. 9, 2026. (Christophe Petit Tesson / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
The question of who would conduct such inspections has already proved contentious.
The United States and Israel had previously opposed France serving as a third-party verifier of Hezbollah's disarmament, according to an Aug. 7 Reuters report citing Lebanese officials and foreign diplomats. A Lebanese official also told Reuters that Beirut had rejected an earlier proposal involving private security companies.
The challenges extend beyond diplomatic disagreements.
According to a Congressional Research Service assessment updated November 9, Hezbollah continues to refuse disarmament while Israeli forces maintain positions in southern Lebanon.
A protester holds a rock to throw at police as a kiosk burns during a demonstration near Place de la République, as the Gilets Jaunes join students for a weekend of action on October 17, 2026, in Paris, France. (Carl Court/Getty Images)
A U.S.-brokered framework agreement reached in June linked a phased Israeli withdrawal to the verified disarmament of armed groups and the deployment of Lebanese forces. But implementation has stalled beyond the initial pilot areas, and negotiations in October ended without agreement.
Rather than committing additional troops, Rodan-Benzaquen argued that Paris should focus on using its diplomatic influence to strengthen the Lebanese government's efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
"France’s greatest leverage is notably in Beirut. The Lebanese cabinet has already outlawed Hezbollah’s military activity. Paris should work with the Lebanese government to press disarming Hezbollah. Israel needs credible evidence that Hezbollah cannot return to an area its troops are eventually leaving. Beirut needs confidence that once its army secures that area, the agreed Israeli withdrawal will eventually follow. That is where French diplomacy can make a difference."
The debate follows the August 2025 Security Council resolution extending UNIFIL's mandate for a final time, until December 31, 2026, with an orderly withdrawal authorized over the following year.
Washington backed terminating the mission amid longstanding concerns about its inability to prevent Hezbollah from maintaining a military presence in southern Lebanon. France, by contrast, has warned against leaving a security vacuum.
United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicles drive along the main road leading to Lebanon's southern town of Naqura close to the border with Israel on October 27, 2022. (Photo by Mahmoud Zayyat/ AFP/Getty Images)
In a previous Security Council statement, the French Mission to the U.N. said: "France will support UNIFIL until the expiration of its mandate. It will contribute to defining the future international engagement in Lebanon, in support of its sovereignty and the implementation of resolution 1701."
U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told Fox News Digital that Secretary-General António Guterres presented three options for a future U.N. presence in June, but the Security Council has not formally selected one.
He added that the U.N. is aware of discussions about a possible non-U.N. military presence in southern Lebanon but is not directly involved in those negotiations.
With UNIFIL's mandate approaching expiration, France faces the challenge of securing agreement not only on which countries would contribute personnel, but also on what those forces would be authorized to do in a country where Hezbollah remains armed and Israeli troops have yet to fully withdraw.
A member of the Spanish UNIFIL peacekeeper forces stands in front of the rubble of destroyed buildings during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Borj El Mlouk, near the border with Israel, on January 7, 2025. (ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)
The Italian government has not responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Requests for comment were also sent to the State Department, Spanish and Lebanese authorities.
Efrat (Effie) Lachter is a reporter for Fox News Digital with more than 15 years of experience covering conflict, global affairs, human rights and political accountability. She has directed and produced more than 200 documentary segments across more than 40 countries, documenting conflicts, humanitarian crises, corruption, human trafficking, gender-based violence and the human stories behind major world events.
Lachter’s reporting has taken her into conflict zones and crisis areas across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. Her work has included uncovering human trafficking networks, revealing an ISIS underground torture prison in Syria, documenting the war in Ukraine and interviewing senior political figures and world leaders. She was also among the Western journalists who entered Russia after the war began to bring testimonies from Putin’s opposition. Lachter is the recipient of the 2022 Peres Center for Peace Award and was a 2023–2024 Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan. She also won two Rockower Awards for Excellence in Reporting. She holds a bachelor's degree in communication and a master's degree in political science.
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