FM Sa'ar to UN Lebanon envoy: UNIFIL is 'obstacle' — IDF must remain in Lebanon

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar met with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and made clear that Israel has no intention of withdrawing its forces from Lebanon. 'The deployment of Israeli troops over the border in Lebanon is necessary to prevent ground incursions by Hezbollah forces and rocket fire toward Israeli civilians and communities,' Sa'ar said. 'Hezbollah launched an attack against us, and there is no actor in the international community working to stop it except us.' He also stressed that weakening Hezbollah is a 'shared interest' of both Israel and Lebanon — a framing that aligns with Syrian President al-Sharaa's earlier statement supporting Lebanon's push to disarm Hezbollah. In a pointed remark, Sa'ar told the UN envoy that the UNIFIL peacekeeping force is an 'obstacle' to IDF operations against Hezbollah. This statement will cause diplomatic friction with troop-contributing nations (France, Italy, Spain) who have personnel in UNIFIL.