China says UN should revisit Lebanon peacekeeping mission decision

May 1 (Reuters) – China’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Friday that there was a need to revisit the U.N. Security Council’s decision to end the mandate of a ​longrunning peacekeeping mission in Lebanon at the end of this ‌year.

The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), established in 1978, patrols Lebanon’s southern border with Israel. Last year, the Security Council unanimously agreed to begin a withdrawal of the mission at the end of 2026.

Envoy Fu Cong said China, which has taken ‌over ​the presidency of the Security Council for ⁠May, was concerned about the ⁠situation in Lebanon. He said there was no real ceasefire in place, only a “lesser fire.”

“It is incumbent on Israel to stop this bombardment of Lebanon,” he told reporters.

More than 2,500 people have been ​killed in Israeli strikes across Lebanon since March 2, when armed group Hezbollah fired on Israel in support of its ally Iran ⁠and triggered an Israeli ground and ⁠air campaign that has left swathes of southern Lebanon ​in ruins.

Israel’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to ​a request for comment, but Israel says its military activities ‌in Lebanon are aimed at stopping attacks by Hezbollah militants.

Responding to a question about the UNIFIL mandate, Fu said: “We do believe we should revisit the decision actually to withdraw the UNIFIL.”

Fu said he had spoken ⁠recently about the issue to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He said the U.N. secretariat was thinking about a review and would come up with options ⁠in June for the ‌implementation of U.N. resolution 1701 that ended a ⁠round of deadly conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in ​2006.

“I ‌think at least the view of the overwhelming ​majority of the ⁠Security Council is that this is not the time to redraw UNIFIL,” Fu said.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said last month that some form of ongoing U.N. presence might continue after the UNIFIL mandate ends.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; writing by Costas Pitas; editing by Susan Heavey, David Gregorio ​and Rosalba O’Brien)