On 27 November 2024, Lebanon woke up to a much-needed calm after more than two months of relentless hostilities that ravaged lives and communities – with south Lebanon being especially hit hard. 

With the Cessation of Hostilities agreement – more commonly known as “ceasefire agreement” – coming into effect that day, a collective sigh of relief swept through communities, and hope prevailed once again.

Thousands of displaced people descended in hordes to south Lebanese villages, close to the Blue Line. However, many of them could not return to their homes due to the continued presence and military activities of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

For the first two months, UNIFIL peacekeepers facilitated withdrawal of the IDF from south Lebanon and subsequent redeployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in Lebanese towns and villages. At the same time, UNIFIL facilitated humanitarian missions of various aid agencies to the south – critical for rebuilding lives. The mission’s peacekeepers provided much-needed support to local schools, hospitals and communities.

One year later, the IDF is still present in five locations inside Lebanese territory and they have imposed two buffer zones – preventing not only the full LAF deployment but also the return of thousands of displaced residents to the villages close to the Blue Line.

To this day, UNIFIL and its peacekeepers are working round-the-clock – in coordination with the LAF as well as the IDF – in support of the parties in the implementation of their obligations under the Security Council Resolution 1701, and to restore full stability along the Blue Line.

In the one year between 27 November 2024 and 27 November 2025,

• UNIFIL facilitated LAF redeployment to almost 130 permanent positions. 
• UNIFIL cleared more than 330 roadblocks. 
• UNIFIL recorded almost 7,800 air violations, more than 1,000 trajectories crossing the Blue Line (with almost all of them originating from the Israeli side), over 100 air attacks, and over 2,500 IDF activitiesnorth of the Blue Line. 
• UNIFIL also discovered over 360 illegal weapon and ammunition caches and referred them to the LAF.
• UNIFIL also found over 300 unexploded ordnances and referred them to the LAF. 
• UNIFIL facilitated almost 1000 humanitarian missions of various aid organizations to south Lebanon. 
  
  1. UNIFIL’s Liaison Branch passed over 12,000 notifications to avoid misunderstandings
  2. UNIFIL peacekeepers implemented almost 450 small-scale projects at the request of local authorities, and directly benefiting local population, including 107 capacity-building projects, 86 education projects, 83 health projects, 62 power projects, 36 water donations, and 20 environmental projects.
• UNIFIL conducted over 750 training activities with the LAF, including ground forces and Navy and the Air Force.