A Brief History of UNIFIL

UNIFIL. What is it? U.N.I.F.I.L. stands for United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon. As the name suggests, this is a Force set up by, and acting under the control of the United Nations. A United Nations Peacekeeping force can only enter a country on the invitation of a nation that feels agrieved against one or more of its neighbouring countries. In this case, at the request of the Lebanese Government. It takes a resolution by the United Nations Security Council for such a force to be given its authority and mandate.

The mandate came in the form of Security Council resolutions 425 and 426 of the 19th of March 1978. These resolutions called for a number of things, and U.N.I.F.I.L. was established to do the following:

1) To confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Southern Lebanon.

2) To restore International Peace and Security.

3)To assist the Lebanese Government in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area.

The force to be assembled was to be multinational, with troops initially coming from many countries including Ireland.

The Original mandate was followed up on the 11th of August 2006 with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. This new resolution gave greater powers to UNIFIL and followed the 2006 bombardment of Lebanon by Israel. Resolution 1701 (2006) runs to this day, in conjunction with the original resolutions of 1978.

Irelands first contribution to UNIFIL was the 43rd Infantry Battalion. The Irish also had a component stationed in Naqoura, which is to this day the location of the headquarters of UNIFIL. The Irish Battalions and Components, rotated every six months. In November 2001, when the 89th Battalion finished their tour of duty, they were not replaced. This temporarily saw the end of Irelands involvement in UNIFIL. Up to this time, aprox 30,000 Irish Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen had served there. Following Israels bombardment of Lebanon in 2006, the Irish once again volunteered for "The Leb". To this day Irish soldiers are serving in Southern Lebanon.

UNIFIL, although it has had its quieter times, has also seen very active periods, and at all times the Irish serving in Lebanon have soldiered with honour, dedication and courage. To date UNIFIL has suffered a total of 279 fatalities (Src. UN.org), of which 45 have been Irish.