French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking by phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday night, said a diplomatic solution was urgently needed to avert a third Lebanon war.
“The President of the Republic reiterated his extreme concern over the escalating tensions between Hezbollah and Israel along the Blue Line,” Macron’s office said in a statement.
Markon stressed to Netanyahu that a war between Israel and Lebanon “would undermine the interests of both Lebanon and Israel and would be a particularly dangerous development for regional stability.”
He offered to work with the United States to help Israel find a diplomatic solution to nearly nine months of cross-border violence between the IDF and Hezbollah that has left some 60,000 Israelis unable to live in their homes along the border.
France has a special relationship with Lebanon since it was part of the French Empire between the two world wars. France has worked to mitigate the threat posed by Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy group operating in Lebanon and attacking Israel. French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he speaks during an international humanitarian conference for Gaza civilians at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, November 9, 2023. (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL VIA REUTERS)
Fears are so great that Israel will invade southern Lebanon to drive Hezbollah from its borders that some countries are urging their citizens to leave the country.
Netanyahu and Macron also discussed the stalled hostage deal and the Gaza war that began with Hamas’ Oct. 7 incursion into Israel.
President Macron stresses importance of ceasefire
Macron spoke of the importance of a ceasefire and the subsequent establishment of a Palestinian state. He said it was crucial that a reformed Palestinian Authority regain control of the Gaza Strip, which it lost in a bloody coup by Hamas in 2007.
The French president told Netanyahu that he condemns Israel’s decision to approve five settlements in the West Bank and turn them into new, legal settlements, a move he said undermines the two-state solution and peace efforts.
