2024-02-13 00:01:06
France has submitted a written proposal to Beirut aimed at ending hostilities with Israel and reaching a settlement over the disputed border between Lebanon and Israel, according to a document seen by Reuters calling on fighters, including an elite Hezbollah unit, to withdraw 10 kilometers from the border.
The plan aims to end the fighting between the Hezbollah group, allied with Iran, and Israel across the border. The mutual bombardment is taking place in parallel with the war in Gaza and has raised fears of a devastating and all-out confrontation.
Four senior Lebanese officials and three French officials said that French Foreign Minister Stephane Ségornet handed over the document last week to senior officials in the Lebanese state, including caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. It is the first written proposal submitted to Beirut within weeks of Western mediation.
Hezbollah official Fadlallah said in response to a question about the French proposal, “The group will not discuss any issue related to southern Lebanon before the Israeli attack on Gaza stops.”
Fadlallah explained that Israel is not in a position to impose conditions.
On Monday, the French Foreign Minister announced that he made “suggestions” during his recent visit to Beirut, and intends to “build solutions” to avoid an open conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Stephane Sigourney said during a press conference following a meeting with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock and Polish Radoslaw Sikorski in the Paris suburb, “We made proposals during our visit” to Beirut.
Since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, the Lebanese-Israeli border has witnessed a daily exchange of bombing between Hezbollah and Israel, which has raised international fear of an expansion of the scope of escalation and prompted Western officials to visit Beirut and urge calm.
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