The United States, France and Israel have agreed to work together to step up efforts to push forward a roadmap presented by Paris earlier this year to defuse tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to the media, on the first day of the G7 summit, in Savelletri, Italy, June 13, 2024. Reuters/Louisa Gouliamaki
The United States, France and Israel have agreed to work together to step up efforts to push forward a roadmap presented by Paris earlier this year to defuse tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.
France and the United States have in recent months worked to try to defuse tensions with Paris submitting written proposals to both sides aimed at stopping worsening exchanges between them on the border between Lebanon and Israel.
"With the United States we agreed on the principle of a trilateral (contact group), Israel, the United States and France to advance on the roadmap that we proposed and we will do the same with the Lebanese authorities," Macron told reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.
Hezbollah, which has ruled out ending hostilities until there is a ceasefire between Israel and Islamist militant group Hamas in Gaza, said it had launched rockets and weaponised drones at nine Israeli military sites in a coordinated attack on Thursday, ramping up hostilities on Lebanon's southern border for the second consecutive day.
A senior French official said there was an urgency for the United States and France to step up their efforts given the dangerous escalation.
(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Reporting by John Irish
Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement in Washington on Friday following several days of talks to secure an end to fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, though both sides framed the deal as an initial step.
Naim Qassem took to the podium Friday for the Ashura commemorations and delivered precisely the speech the world expected, word for word, beat for beat, with all the spontaneity of a hostage reading from a script prepared in Tehran.
Lebanon's Foreign Ministry on Friday welcomed the joint declaration issued Thursday following the ministerial meeting between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the United States, describing it as a significant endorsement of Beirut's sovereign diplomatic path.
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