2023-12-18 09:39:04
Beirut (AFP) – French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna will visit Beirut on Monday to hold discussions centered on how to avoid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon, the day after her stop in Israel and the West Bank.
Published on: 12/18/2023 – 10:39
5 minutes
Colonna confirmed on Sunday in Tel Aviv that “the risk of escalation remains… and if things get out of control, I think that would not be in anyone’s interest, and I say that to Israel as well.”
She added, “This call for caution and de-escalation applies to everyone.”
Since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon’s southern border with the Hebrew state has witnessed a daily exchange of bombing between the Israeli army and the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah.
The party confirms that it targeted Israeli border military sites and points, and the Hebrew state responded with air and artillery bombardment targeting military and civilian targets in southern Lebanon.
The violence, which is still confined to the border areas, has left more than 130 dead, including about 100 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon, and at least 11 dead on the Israeli side.
But the intensity of the Israeli bombing has increased recently, as noted by French diplomats, who fear an escalation that would lead to the region becoming ignited.
Hezbollah, which has close ties to Hamas within the framework of the “axis of resistance” led by Tehran in the Middle East, stresses that its operations come within the framework of “supporting” the Palestinian people and the “resistance” in Gaza.
During a joint press conference with Catherine Colonna on Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen confirmed that “Israel has no intention of opening another front on our northern border, but we will do everything necessary to protect our citizens,” noting that more than 50,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country. Border areas in northern Israel.
He added, “We must ensure their security so that they can return to their homes,” and “the only way to do this is to force Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River.”
He explained, “There are two ways to do this: either through diplomacy or through force.”
“He does not intimidate us”
Cohen believed that “France can play a positive and important role in preventing a war in Lebanon.”
Paris, which has regular contact with Hezbollah, unlike other Western countries, expressed its readiness to assume this role in the face of the risk of an “actual” outbreak of fire.
During her previous visit to Beirut on October 16, Colonna urged Lebanese officials to do everything to “avoid the country being dragged into a spiral from which it will not recover.”
But the French Foreign Minister was keen on Sunday to stress that the calls to stop the escalation apply to all parties, including Israel.
On Monday, she will call for restraint and responsibility during her meetings with the Prime Minister of the Lebanese caretaker government, Najib Mikati, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah.
A French diplomatic source fears that Lebanon is underestimating Israel’s determination to protect its borders after the shock sparked by the bloody attacks carried out by Hamas on Israeli territory on October 7.
The war broke out following an unprecedented attack launched by the movement on the south of the Hebrew state, which led to the killing of about 1,140 people, the majority of whom were civilians, most of whom died on the first day of the attack, according to figures issued by the Israeli authorities.
Since then, the Hebrew state has carried out intense bombardment on the Gaza Strip and began ground operations as of late October, leading to the killing of about 19,000 people, the majority of whom were women and children, according to the Hamas government in Gaza.
Israel stresses the need to fully implement Resolution 1701 issued by the UN Security Council.
Hezbollah, supported by Tehran, and Israel fought a devastating war in 2006, which ended with the issuance of Resolution 1701, which strengthened the spread of UNIFIL in the south. Under it, the army was deployed for the first time in decades on the border with Israel, with the aim of preventing any “illegal” military presence.
The head of the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc, Muhammad Raad, said on Sunday, “We are still at the beginning of the road and we have not used what we have prepared for our war against the Israeli army, and we are not intimidated by its intimidation or the slogans it is launching through international brokers in order to divert our people from one of our regions in the south.”
Raad, whose son was killed in an Israeli strike last month, was speaking during a memorial ceremony organized by Hezbollah in the southern town of Armati, located about twenty kilometers from the border with Israel, in memory of one of its fighters.
Colonna will also be briefed on the field situation during a meeting with the Commander of the UNIFIL force in Lebanon, General Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, held in the Lebanese capital for security reasons.
France, which contributes to UNIFIL with about 700 personnel, condemned the recent Israeli bombing of the international force.
© 2023 AFP
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