French President Emmanuel Macron (L) is shown with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati (R) at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on April 19, 2024. AFP
PARIS/ BEIRUT
French President Emmanuel Macron met Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the country’s army chief Joseph Aoun in Paris on Friday for talks on how to end cross-border fighting between Hezbollah and Israel and ease a political stalemate in Lebanon.
Macron told Mikati that France would do “everything in its power” to stop violence spiralling between Lebanon and Israel, his office said.
The French leader was quoted as saying he would “continue to act for Lebanon’s stability” to protect it from escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Macron also brought up France’s participation in the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon — on Israel’s northern border — and “underlined everyone’s responsibility towards it”, his office added.
A statement from Mikati’s office said he discussed with Macron a French proposal to end cross-border fighting that envisions increased support for the Lebanese army and the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters from within 10 km of the border.
Mikati thanked Macron for his efforts “to stop the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and support the army with equipment and expertise to enable it to fully carry out its tasks,” the Lebanese statement said.
Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Israeli army have engaged in clashes across the Lebanese border since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7, marking their most serious hostilities since a war between them in 2006.
The fighting has fuelled concern about the risk of further escalation. Hezbollah and its patron, Iran, were seemingly unwilling to engage in an open confrontation with Israel on the Lebanese front.
Macron and Mikati also discussed Lebanon’s political crisis stressing the need to elect a new president more than 1-1/2 after former President Michel Aoun left office, deepening political paralysis as Lebanon continues to suffer from an acute financial crises, the statement from Mikati’s office said.
Lebanese lawmakers have failed to designate a successor to former president Michel Aoun since October 2022 as parliament remains deadlocked between Hezbollah and its opponents.
Macron met Aoun before Mikati
Macron who received General Joseph Aoun ten minutes before meeting with Mikati, was clearly sending a message of support to the Lebanese army chief in his quest for the presidency, analysts said.
General Aoun is perceived as a possible consensus candidate but Hezbollah is seen as still jockeying to impose its own candidate.
The Arab Weekly
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