German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has proposed replacing the expiring UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon with an EU-mandated force to prevent a security vacuum, he told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland.
"We should examine in the EU whether we can ensure that no security vacuum arises with a European mandate following the UNIFIL mission," Wadephul said in an interview published on Friday.
The UNIFIL mission expires on December 31, 2026. Germany's parliament extended the country's participation in the mission for the final time just weeks ago.
Wadephul said Lebanon, with a stabilizing government, represented "one of the most hopeful developments in the region at the moment."
Lebanon and Israel held ambassador-level talks at the US embassy in Rome on Tuesday and Wednesday — their sixth round of face-to-face negotiations since a new war erupted on March 2 between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, triggered by the wider regional conflict.
IDF withdrawal, end to Hezbollah terror
An EU-mandated force could "create the conditions for the Israeli army to withdraw without Hezbollah returning with its terror," the minister added.
The proposal comes as European nations seek to maintain regional stability while balancing relations with Israel and Lebanon.
Israel's IDF is currently positioned within a "buffer zone" approximately 10 km (6 miles) into Lebanon along the entire Israeli border to bolster Israel's defense against Hezbollah.
Lebanon and Israel resumed talks on Tuesday in Rome, with Beirut hoping for progress towards securing an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon under a US-brokered deal, although expectations for swift progress were low.
US-led diplomacy has emerged since Hezbollah and Israel returned to war on March 2 amid the wider regional conflict, moving forward despite strong objections from the Iran-backed group, which believes only Iranian pressure on Washington can secure an end to the war and Israeli withdrawal.
Iran demanded an end to the war in Lebanon as part of its interim deal with Washington signed last month, but the agreement has been shaken over the last week by renewed US-Iranian hostilities in the Gulf.
The Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.