Two days after the visit to Lebanon by the new French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, Lebanese Prime Minister Nagib Mikati received French Ambassador to Beirut Hervé Magro on Thursday.
Two days after the visit to Lebanon by the new French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, Lebanese Prime Minister Nagib Mikati received French Ambassador to Beirut Hervé Magro on Thursday.
Following the meeting, Magro asserted that he had presented to the Prime Minister the "ideas" of Paris regarding the situation in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been engaging in a barrage of bombings since October 8, 2023, following the Hamas attack in Israel.
One does not need to be a globally renowned expert to know the immediate measures to reduce tension. It suffices for Hezbollah to respect UN Resolution 1701 and demand that its militants vacate the border area and move beyond the Litani River, as required since 2006.
Furthermore, the narrative of the Lebanese government aligns with that of Iran. This implies that Mikati dares not ask Hezbollah to cease provocations.
This charade of diplomatic discussions between France and Lebanon appears nothing more than a theatrical performance, where "ideas" are presented with little hope of implementation and where political realities are overshadowed by regional power dynamics. The theater of diplomacy continues, while the people of southern Lebanon bear the brunt of escalating violence.
By Marc Fakhoury
Iran and the United States will hold a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran's atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump's threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Israel has not ruled out an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities in the coming months despite President Donald Trump telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. was for now unwilling to support such a move, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
In a defiant speech on Friday evening, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, insisted that the group “will not allow anyone to disarm it,” rejecting growing internal calls for the Lebanese state to reclaim exclusive control over the country’s weapons.
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