GENEVA: Argentina has notified the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon of its withdrawal from the force, a UNIFIL spokesperson said on Tuesday, in the first sign of cracks in the unity of the mission following attacks it has blamed on Israel.
The 10,000-strong peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL is deployed in southern Lebanon to monitor the demarcation line with Israel, an area where there have been hostilities between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters for over a year.
“Argentina has asked its officers to go back (to Argentina),” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in response to a question about a newspaper report.
He declined to comment on the reason for their departure, referring the question to Argentina’s government.
Argentina is one of 48 countries contributing peacekeepers to UNIFIL, with a total of three staff currently in Lebanon, a UN website showed. It did not immediately respond to Tenenti’s comments.
UNIFIL has previously referred to “unacceptable pressures being exerted on the mission through various channels.”
Peacekeepers have refused to leave their posts despite more than 20 injuries in the past two months and damage to facilities which UNIFIL blames on the Israeli military.
Israel has denied such incidents are deliberate attacks. Israel says UN troops provide a human shield for Hezbollah fighters and has told UNIFIL to evacuate from southern Lebanon for its own safety — a request that the force has rejected.
Tenenti said there was no broader indication of declining support for the mission.
“The idea is to stay. So there is no discussion of withdrawing at all,” he said.
He said that its monitoring activities were “very, very limited” because of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict and repairs to some of its facilities.
“We’re still working on fixing some of the positions, but this has been definitely a very difficult moment, because we’ve been deliberately attacked by the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) in recent months, and we’re doing our utmost to rebuild the areas,” he said.
Israel’s military did not immediately comment on Tenenti’s remarks.
Argentina withdraws from UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon
https://arab.news/4rhgp
Argentina withdraws from UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon
- “Argentina has asked its officers to go back (to Argentina),” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said
- He declined to comment on the reason for their departure, referring the question to Argentina’s government
Second US aircraft carrier is being sent to the Middle East, AP source says
- Move by the USS Gerald R. Ford, first reported by The New York Times, will put two carriers and their accompanying warships in the region
- Trump told Axios earlier this week that he was considering sending a second carrier strike group to the Middle East
WASHINGTON: The world’s largest aircraft carrier has been ordered to sail from the Caribbean Sea to the Middle East, a person familiar with the plans said Thursday, as US President Donald Trump considers whether to take possible military action against Iran.
The move by the USS Gerald R. Ford, first reported by The New York Times, will put two carriers and their accompanying warships in the region as Trump increases pressure on Iran to make a deal over its nuclear program. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military movements.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and three guided-missile destroyers arrived in the Middle East more than two weeks ago.
It marks a quick turnaround for the USS Ford, which Trump sent from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean last October as the administration build up a huge military presence in the leadup to the surprise raid last month that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
It also appears to be at odds with Trump’s national security strategy, which put an emphasis on the Western Hemisphere over other parts of the world.
Trump on Thursday warned Iran that failure to reach a deal with his administration would be “very traumatic.” Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Oman last week.
“I guess over the next month, something like that,” Trump said in response to a question about his timeline for striking a deal with Iran on its nuclear program. “It should happen quickly. They should agree very quickly.”
Trump told Axios earlier this week that he was considering sending a second carrier strike group to the Middle East.
Trump held lengthy talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and said he insisted to Israel’s leader that negotiations with Iran needed to continue. Netanyahu is urging the administration to press Tehran to scale back its ballistic missile program and end its support for militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah as part of any deal.
The USS Ford set out on deployment in late June 2025, which means the crew will have been deployed for eight months in two weeks time. While it is unclear how long the ship will remain in the Middle East, the move sets the crew up for an usually long deployment.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
