US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that he discussed developments in Lebanon and the future of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as the selection of the next UN secretary-general.
UNIFIL’s mandate in southern Lebanon is set to expire on December 31, while Israel continues to occupy large areas of the country.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Macron on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Paris, Rubio said the goal was to establish a credible presence on the ground capable of verifying whether the parties were complying with the terms of the framework agreement in the designated “pilot areas.”
He stressed that such a mission would not necessarily require a military force similar to UNIFIL, suggesting that a civilian body could carry out the task instead.
Future of the International Presence in Southern Lebanon
Lebanon was drawn into the war on March 2, after Hezbollah launched rockets toward Israel, saying the attack was in response to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the first US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
Israel responded with intensive airstrikes and a ground incursion, occupying dozens of towns and villages in southern Lebanon and carrying out widespread demolition operations.
Fighting subsequently eased following a memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States in June, followed by a framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel. The agreement calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from areas entered by its forces in southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese army, beginning in two designated “pilot areas.”
Paris is working to establish a mechanism that would maintain an international presence in southern Lebanon after UNIFIL’s mandate expires, in line with the timetable set by the UN Security Council under US pressure.
France, in cooperation with Italy, is seeking to form a multinational force to replace the UN mission once its mandate ends.
Rubio: UN Reform Is a Priority
Regarding the selection of the next UN secretary-general, Rubio said Washington was closely following the process, stressing that the most important consideration for the United States was choosing a candidate committed to implementing reforms within the international organization.
He said reform was one of the factors that could save the United Nations, warning that the organization would face major problems if changes were not implemented. He emphasized that Washington wanted a secretary-general strongly committed to this goal.
Rubio denied that the United States was backing any particular candidate, arguing that publicly supporting a specific contender could make that person “doomed to lose.”
He said there were two or three highly qualified candidates, adding that Washington would allow the voting process to take its course before the international community decided whom it wanted as the next secretary-general.
Rebecca Grynspan Leads Latest Informal Poll
Rebecca Grynspan, 70, former vice president of Costa Rica and former head of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, once again topped the results of the seventh informal poll conducted by the UN Security Council on October 30 to assess potential candidates for the secretary-general position.
She ranked ahead of Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, the current director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Guyana’s former foreign minister.
