France’s top diplomat in Lebanon in push for calm
France’s top diplomat on Sunday urged calm in Lebanon during his second visit to the country since cross-border tensions with Israel flared on the back of the war in Gaza.
Israel and Lebanon’s groups have exchanged near-daily fire since the unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 sparked the war in Gaza.
Fighting has intensified in recent weeks, with Israel striking deeper into Lebanese territory, while Lebanon’s groups have stepped up its missile and drone attacks on military positions in northern Israel.
France has for months sought to de-escalate the crossborder tensions, presenting to both Lebanon and Israel an initiative in January seeking to end hostilities. During a visit to the headquarters of the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL), French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne reiterated that Paris has been making proposals to “avoid war in Lebanon”.
“I will head to Beirut to meet political authorities to... make proposals,” he added. “Our responsibility is to mitigate escalation, and that is also our role in UNIFIL. We have 700 soldiers here.” A French diplomatic source said that the volume of cross-border attacks had doubled since April 13. Sejourne was set to meet Lebanese officials on Sunday afternoon ahead of holding a press conference.
In March, Beirut submitted its response to the French initiative, which was based on a UN resolution barring the presence of any forces other than the Lebanese military and UNIFIL in south Lebanon.