The United Nations Security Council on 18 August opened negotiations on a French-draft resolution to renew the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) before its mandate expires on 31 August. The text would keep the 47-year-old mission in place for now while signalling the Council’s intention to work toward an eventual withdrawal once the Lebanese government becomes the sole security provider in the country’s south. Diplomats said the United States, a veto-wielding Council member, told a closed meeting it would back only one final 12-month extension, arguing that UNIFIL should prepare to leave. Washington’s position contrasts with that of France, which drafted the resolution, and with several members who favour a more gradual draw-down tied to conditions on the ground. Regional capitals are similarly divided. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio cited by Israeli media, called for the force’s immediate termination, saying it has failed to prevent Hezbollah from operating south of the Litani River. Lebanon’s president insisted that the peacekeepers remain while the Lebanese army completes its deployment to the international border, and lawmaker Ashraf Rifi predicted at most a six-month rollover. Ahead of the Security Council talks, U.S. envoys Tom Barrack and Morgan Ortagus met Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut, part of a broader American effort to gauge local security needs and Lebanon’s capacity to assume UNIFIL’s responsibilities. Council members aim to reach agreement and vote before the mandate runs out at month-end, leaving just days to reconcile widely divergent views on how and when the 10,000-strong peacekeeping mission should wind down.