French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was in Beirut on Monday to meet senior Lebanese officials in an effort to prevent an Israeli invasion of Lebanon and deliver humanitarian aid as the European Union held emergency talks to discuss bolstering support for Lebanese institutions.
“There is still hope, but there is little time left” for a diplomatic solution to the conflict, Mr Barrot said in a press conference in the Lebanese capital.
Deadly Israeli attacks on Lebanon continued after the EU, the US, France, the UK and Gulf countries over the weekend called for a 21-day ceasefire on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“It is still on the table. There is still hope, but there is little time left,” Mr Barrot said of the ceasefire proposal. “I want to clarify that this proposal is not just a simple call for a ceasefire. It has been discussed with both parties, and it is the only viable option.”
“Hezbollah bears a heavy responsibility for the current situation, given its decision to involve Lebanon. Its responsibility is to bring an end to the escalation,” added Mr Barrot, who declined to answers reporters’ questions about the lack of condemnation by France over the killing of two citizens in the recent Israeli strikes.
leaders should also use their collective leverage to dissuade Israel from ongoing escalation and press it into an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which is the clearest and probably only pathway to de-escalating wider tensions,” said Mr Barnes-Dacey.
“This should include suspending arms sales to Israel and reviewing the EU’s Association Agreement with the country – the linchpin of their bilateral relations and a key source of economic leverage. Europeans should work closely with Arab Gulf states to press the US to use its military leverage over [Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin] Netanyahu before it is too late.”
During his two-day visit to Lebanon, Mr Barrot was scheduled to meet Lebanese Christian Maronite patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai, Prime Minister Najib Mikati, army chief Gen Joseph Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and representatives of the UN interim force in Lebanon, which is deployed along the border with Israel.
No meeting with Hezbollah political leaders appeared on Mr Barrot’s agenda, although Mr Macron and his special envoy for Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, have previously met the leader of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad. Mr Borrell also met Mr Raad in January.
The EU and France have classified Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organisation but not its political leaders so as to keep diplomatic channels open.
support these humanitarian organisations, including the Red Cross. These funds are part of the €100 million we have already spent in Lebanon this year,” he said during the press conference.
In a statement on Saturday, the French Foreign Affairs Ministry called for an “immediate cessation of Israeli strikes in Lebanon and condemned any indiscriminate action against civilians.” It added that: “France is opposed to any ground operation in Lebanon.”
“Lebanon is going to need all the help it can get because the humanitarian situation is going to be very tough,” said Rym Momtaz, editor in chief of Carnegie Europe’s blog Strategic Europe.
But France can do more than simply sending humanitarian aid by working with the Lebanese army and Unifil to bolster their presence in south Lebanon, paving the way to putting UN Resolution 1701 into effect, Ms Momtaz told The National.
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