Some 10,800 UN peacekeepers have manned a buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon since March 1978, but they will have one year to leave Lebanon starting 31 December, under a resolution passed last August under pressure from the United States and Israel.

"We will always need an international presence in the south, and preferably a UN presence, given the impartiality and neutrality that only the UN can provide," Nawaf Salam said the day after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The force would need a mix of observers and peacekeepers, largely because of a "history of hostility" with Israel, he added.

UN peacekeepers current operate in southern Lebanon in cooperation with the Lebanese army, part of a ceasefire between Israel and the pro-Iranian Shiite movement Hezbollah in place since November 2024.

While Israel was supposed to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon, it has maintained them in five areas it considers strategic.

It regularly conducts airstrikes in the country on what it claims are Hezbollah sites and members, whom it accuses of rearming.

Questioned about Hezbollah's promised disarmament, Salam said Phase 2 of this process had begun "two weeks ago".

The Lebanese army says it has completed the first phase, which calls for disarming Hezbollah south of the Litani River.

The second phase will involve disarmament between the Litani and the Awali River, an area further north that has significant Hezbollah influence.

"I can clearly see that Phase 2 has different requirements than Phase 1," said Salam, adding that Hezbollah's rhetoric had been "rather harsh".

"But let me be clear, we will not back down," he added.