The planned withdrawal of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is raising questions over the ownership and future of the land and facilities it has occupied across southern Lebanon for nearly five decades, with properties belonging to private citizens and the Lebanese State potentially affected.

As the mission approaches its end, attention is turning to the legal arrangements governing the sites used by the international force, the payment of outstanding rents and compensation, and whether the buildings and permanent structures on those properties will be returned to their owners or handed over to the Lebanese state.

UNIFIL positions are spread across privately owned land belonging to Lebanese citizens and public property provided by the government.

In a statement issued on April 11, 2011, UNIFIL said the Lebanese government, through the Lebanese army, was responsible for providing land and arranging lease agreements for private properties. The government, rather than the United Nations, was also responsible for paying the rent.

The force also pledged to restore properties to their original condition or compensate owners for any damage in accordance with the applicable agreements.

These arrangements are based on the 1995 Status of Forces Agreement between Lebanon and the United Nations. Paragraph 16 stipulates that the Lebanese state must provide sites for UNIFIL headquarters, camps and other facilities at no cost to the United Nations. The land remains Lebanese property, although the sites fall under UN authority for as long as they are used by the force.

The scale of the issue is significant, with some UNIFIL facilities occupying properties belonging to dozens of individuals.

In Naqoura, the force's headquarters stands partly on privately owned land. The positions used by the Italian and Chinese contingents in Chamaa also occupy properties belonging to Lebanese citizens.

In Kfarshouba, five UNIFIL positions are located on land owned by 18 individuals. The Spanish battalion's headquarters in Ibl al-Saqi occupies around 400,000 square meters, part of which falls within the cadastral boundaries of Blat. The properties used by the headquarters belong to around 40 people.

As the withdrawal approaches, questions are mounting over outstanding rent payments and compensation, as well as the fate of buildings, fortifications and other permanent structures erected on the land.

Ownership of these facilities will depend on the terms of the relevant contracts and handover arrangements; it will not automatically pass to the Lebanese army. Military and technical equipment, meanwhile, remains subject to its original ownership rights and arrangements governing its removal or transfer.

Who will take over the sites?

The resolution of property and compensation issues does not necessarily mean that all UNIFIL positions can be handed over to the Lebanese State or that the land can be returned to its owners.

A distinction must be made between positions in areas where the Lebanese army is deployed and exercises authority, where handovers are expected to take place under agreed arrangements, and those located in the so-called "Yellow Zone," amid the continued Israeli military presence.

A briefing published by the UK House of Commons Library on Sept. 24, 2026, highlighted the difficulty of transferring some of the sites. According to the briefing, around half of UNIFIL's positions were located in areas under Israeli control, based on information available in September.

A United Nations source has also raised the possibility that Israeli forces could take over around 30 UNIFIL positions along the Blue Line after they are vacated.

The international force intends to dismantle these sites without destroying them, the source told Nidaa Al-Watan. Their future control, however, remains uncertain, raising questions over whether the Lebanese state will be able to regain authority over all the land and facilities used by UNIFIL for decades.