Human Rights Watch has called on the United Nations to keep an international force in Lebanon after its peacekeepers' mandate ends this year.

The peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, has roughly 7,500 personnel from nearly 50 countries, and has been in place since 1978.

In August last year, however, the UN Security Council, under US pressure, decided to end UNIFIL's mandate on 31 December 2026.

"Pulling the plug on UNIFIL without a robust international force in place would effectively abandon millions of Lebanese civilians to an uncertain and potentially disastrous fate," said Louis Charbonneau, HRW's UN director.

"The peacekeepers are a crucial deterrent against attacks on civilians and human rights abuses," he added.