BEIRUT: UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix on Wednesday urged the UN Security Council to begin negotiations on the future of peacekeepers deployed in Lebanon, as Beirut campaigns for an extension to the mandate set to expire at the end of this year. A UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL has been deployed in southern Lebanon since 1978 but the Security Council last year ordered the mission to begin withdrawing at the end of 2026. Since a new war erupted in March between Israel and Iran-
