United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert warned the Security Council that Lebanon’s window of opportunity for meaningful reform "will not stay open indefinitely," urging both Lebanese authorities and international stakeholders to act decisively before conditions deteriorate further.

Briefing the Council on the implementation of Resolution 1701 earlier this week, Hennis-Plasschaert, alongside Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Mohamed Khaled Khiari, praised the progress made in recent months by the Lebanese Armed Forces and acknowledged certain steps taken by Lebanon’s leadership. Still, she underscored the steep road ahead, particularly in combating corruption and addressing weapons outside of state control.

“There is a deep-rooted rot of corruption and clientelism that must be addressed,” she said, adding that “there can be no turning back. This work must be done. It must be done to restore public trust. To build investor and depositor confidence. To preserve stability. And certainly, it must be done to move the needle on financing for recovery and reconstruction.”

While conceding that a complete state monopoly on weapons is not a realistic short-term expectation, the Special Coordinator stressed the urgency of setting a clear path forward.

“A clearly articulated roadmap with timelines, underpinned by concrete plans, was needed yesterday,” she said. “The question of non-State arms is multi-faceted,” she added, and addressing it requires “foresight and a dedicated framework.”

Turning to the fragile security environment, Hennis-Plasschaert highlighted continued violations of the cessation of hostilities outlined in Resolution 1701, pointing to Israel’s ongoing presence at five positions and two buffer zones in southern Lebanon, as well as recurrent Israeli airstrikes.

“This new status quo cannot and must not be accepted as normal,” she said, warning that it “will not lead to the stability, safety and security that the parties say they seek.”

The Special Coordinator also addressed the broader regional context, warning that Lebanon remains acutely exposed to shifting geopolitical tensions. She referenced the military flare-up between Iran and Israel in June and recent security developments in neighboring Syria, cautioning that Lebanon's stability hangs in the balance.

“These dynamics require us to calibrate our responses to the regional dimensions of the challenges facing the Levant,” she noted.

In a call for more robust diplomatic engagement, Hennis-Plasschaert emphasized the importance of establishing a political channel to complement existing military coordination mechanisms, with the aim of resolving unresolved issues between Lebanon and Israel.

“Short of this,” she warned, “sustainable solutions will continue to elude both sides.”

She concluded with a sobering reminder of Lebanon’s precarious position, warning that without sustained international attention, the country risks being forgotten amid fast-moving regional shifts.

“Lebanon, in need of major, sustained international support, runs the risk of being sidelined as regional dynamics shift rapidly around it – a harsh reality that must be acknowledged,” she said.