France's special envoy for Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said Wednesday it was unreasonable to expect Beirut to disarm Hezbollah while the country was being bombed, insisting that only negotiations could resolve the crisis.
A person walks past debris at the site of an Israeli strike, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, Zuqaq al-Blat district in central Beirut, Lebanon, March 18, 2026. Reuters/Khalil Ashawi
France's special envoy for Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said Wednesday it was unreasonable to expect Beirut to disarm Hezbollah while the country was being bombed, insisting that only negotiations could resolve the crisis.
"Israel occupied Lebanon for a very long time and failed to eradicate Hezbollah's military capacity. Therefore, they cannot now ask the Lebanese government to do that job in three days under bombardment," Le Drian told France Info radio.
Lebanese authorities report over 900 people killed in Israeli strikes since Hezbollah entered the regional war in support of Iran on March 2.
Paris has been actively seeking a mediating role, presenting counter-proposals to US ideas last week ,though Washington has been lukewarm to the French plan and Israel has rejected it outright.
According to an informal document seen by Reuters, France's position centres on a three-month period to end hostilities, leading to a comprehensive non-aggression pact between Lebanon and Israel. The plan includes demarcation of the land border, deployment of a UN-mandated volunteer coalition to verify disarmament across Lebanon, Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese positions and a commitment to reconstruction and economic reform.
"Lebanon and Israel would declare that the state of war between them has come to an end," the document states — envisioning disputes resolved exclusively through diplomatic channels.
The Credibility Problem
Lebanon's failure to rein in Hezbollah following the 2024 ceasefire brokered by the US and France has severely damaged Beirut's credibility at the negotiating table. Israel has rebuffed President Joseph Aoun's offer of direct talks as "too little, too late" — even as Hezbollah has rejected the move entirely and continued fighting.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot is expected to visit Lebanon shortly. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Sunday that Israel was not planning direct talks with Lebanon in the coming days.
France is pushing hard for a diplomatic solution - but finds itself caught between an Israel that won't negotiate, a Hezbollah that won't stop fighting and a Washington that isn't convinced by Paris's proposals.
Le Drian is not wrong that bombing a country into disarming a militia it cannot control is not a strategy. But telling Israel to stop while Hezbollah keeps firing is not a strategy either.
By Maya Gebeily in Beirut
A Israeli airstrike hit the Zokak el-Blat district in central Beirut Wednesday morning, killing Mohammad Cherri, director of political programs at Hezbollah's al-Manar television, along with his wife.
The United States has encouraged Syria to consider sending forces into eastern Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah, but Damascus is reluctant to embark on such a mission for fear of being sucked into the war in the Middle East and inflaming sectarian tensions, five people briefed on the matter said.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Joe Raggi expressed his "firm condemnation" of an alleged Hezbollah sabotage operation in Kuwait, following Kuwait's Interior Ministry announcement Monday of the arrest of 16 individuals, 14 Kuwaitis and two Lebanese nationals , accused of Hezbollah affiliation.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.