Lebanon is preparing its written response to the French proposal for resolving the situation in southern Lebanon and is coordinating with Hezbollah to this end. This proposal, which also aims to reach a settlement on the delineation of the land border with Israel, was submitted to the government by the head of French diplomacy, Stéphane Séjourné, during his visit to Lebanon earlier this month.
The proposal would include the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters to a distance of 10 kilometers from the border, as well as the deployment of 15,000 Lebanese Army troops in the border regions.
But Hezbollah is having none of it. It has told French officials, through diplomatic channels, that it refuses any discussion until the war in Gaza is brought to an end. As a result, the pro-Iranian group, which has also received a copy of the French document, will not submit its response until the fighting in Gaza has ended.
Against this backdrop, Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, declared that Lebanon would submit its response next week, stressing that France was undertaking consultations with Israel to ensure unconditional implementation of the document.
The question is whether the government will submit Lebanon’s response without consulting Hezbollah, especially as the latter is the main party concerned by the implementation of Resolution 1701 of the Council of Ministers, or whether it will ask for an extension, pending the Ramadan truce in Gaza, when Hezbollah will be in a position to give its response.
