BEIRUT: Germany moved to assure Lebanon on Monday that it will support the Lebanese government even after pulling out German troops deployed as part of UN peacekeepers along the Lebanon-Israel border when their mission ends later this year.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the announcement during a news conference at the presidential palace near Beirut. Germany’s navy, he said, is already training Lebanese troops as they boost their presence in the country’s south following the 14-month war between Israel and the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group.
The mission of the multinational UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, concludes at the end of 2026, nearly five decades after it was deployed. The force has played a significant role in monitoring the security situation in the region, including during the Israel-Hezbollah war last year.
Over the past months, Beirut has said that Lebanon will need a follow-up force to fill the vacuum in southern Lebanon once the UN peacekeepers leave.
“After the end of UNIFIL’s mission, Germany will stay by the side of your country to boost state authority,” Steinmeier said, without elaborating. It remains unlikely German troops — tasked with preventing arms smuggling by sea and helping the Lebanese army monitor the country’s sea border — would remain in Lebanon.
UNIFIL currently numbers about 7,500 peacekeepers, including 179 Germans.
“The Lebanese armed Forces are, of course, the backbone of stability in Lebanon and this means that after UNIFIL’s mission we have to think how to strengthen” the army, Steinmeier said.
Steinmeier added that the process of disarming Hezbollah — which was part of a November 2024 US-brokered ceasefire that halted the fighting — should move ahead and that Israel should fully withdraw from Lebanese territory.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Lebanon paid a high price for the Hezbollah-Israel war, which Hezbollah started by firing rockets into Israel a day after the militant Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering the war in Gaza.
Israel expanded its attacks that included bombardment and a ground operation in September 2024, severely weakening Hezbollah.
The Israel-Hezbollah conflict killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians, and caused an estimated $11 billion in damage and destruction, according to the World Bank. In Israel, 127 people died, including 80 soldiers.
“We were forced to live through violent conflicts we did not choose and we bore their burdens. We are no longer able to do so,” Aoun said of the Israel-Hezbollah war.
Aoun also said he had asked Steinmeier to have Germany assume a “main role” after UNIFL, without elaborating what that would entail, and to also ask Israel to abide by the ceasefire and withdraw from Lebanon. He made no mention of Hezbollah’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Germany will keep supporting Lebanon after UN peacekeepers leave, German president says
https://arab.news/2a2cj
Germany will keep supporting Lebanon after UN peacekeepers leave, German president says
- Germany’s navy is already training Lebanese troops as they boost their presence in the country’s south, Steinmeier said
Israel police to deploy around Al-Aqsa for Ramadan, Palestinians report curbs
- The Al-Aqsa compound is a central symbol of Palestinian identity and also a frequent flashpoint
JERUSALEM: Israeli police said Monday that they would deploy in force around the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week, as Palestinian officials accused Israel of imposing restrictions at the compound.
Over the course of the month of fasting and prayer, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians traditionally attend prayers at Al-Aqsa — Islam’s third-holiest site, located in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed.
Arad Braverman, a senior Jerusalem police officer, said forces would be deployed “day and night” across the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, and in the surrounding area.
He said thousands of police would also be on duty for Friday prayers, which draw the largest crowds of Muslim worshippers.
Braverman said police had recommended issuing 10,000 permits for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, who require special permission to enter Jerusalem.
He did not say whether age limits would apply, adding that the final number of people would be decided by the government.
The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said in a separate statement it had been informed that permits would again be restricted to men over 55 and women over 50, mirroring last year’s criteria.
It said Israeli authorities had blocked the Islamic Waqf — the Jordanian?run body administering the site — from carrying out routine preparations, including installing shade structures and setting up temporary medical clinics.
A Waqf source confirmed the restrictions and said 33 of its employees had been barred from entering the compound in the week before Ramadan.
The Al-Aqsa compound is a central symbol of Palestinian identity and also a frequent flashpoint.
Under long?standing arrangements, Jews may visit the compound — which they revere as the site of their second temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD — but they are not permitted to pray there.
Israel says it is committed to maintaining this status quo, though Palestinians fear it is being eroded.
Braverman reiterated Monday that no changes were planned.
In recent years, a growing number of Jewish ultranationalists have challenged the prayer ban, including far?right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who prayed at the site while serving as national security minister in 2024 and 2025.
