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French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has stressed that the United States-French proposal for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which was endorsed by European and Arab countries during the United Nations General Assembly last week “is still standing.”
“It’s still on the table. There’s still hope, but there’s little time left,” Barrot told a press conference at the end of his visit to Lebanon on Monday.
He reiterated that a final sustainable diplomatic solution “is well known,” and that is “the thorough and comprehensive application of UN Resolution 1701.”
He drew the roadmap for the resolution’s application which, he said, requires a cessation of hostilities on both sides of the border, a massive deployment of Lebanese armed forces south of the Litani River, a withdrawal of non-state armed actors from the immediate vicinity of the border, a strengthening of the capacity of the UN peacekeeping Force to carry out its mission and a settlement of disputes on the land border.
“None of this is impossible provided that the political will is present on both sides,” he affirmed, stressing that Israel should refrain from any terrestrial action and ceasefire, and Hezbollah should do the same.
“I recall that the current situation is largely due to the decision of this movement (Hezbollah), which since October 2023 has dragged Lebanon into a situation we have always deplored,” Barrot added.
The French minister also urged Lebanese leaders to restore the functioning of state institutions by electing a president of the Republic without delay.
Barrot, who is on his first mission abroad since he was appointed in the new French government, brought no new ideas to de-escalate the conflict, which Hezbollah, through his Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem, vowed on Monday to continue in support of Gaza.
According to an informed source, “Naim Qassem came out at the right time to remind everyone that Hezbollah is still an actor and that no one will be able to carry out diplomatic plans without it.”
Despite the major blow it suffered with the killing of its powerful Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and a large number of its key commanders, “we feel that Lebanese diplomacy is still led by Hezbollah… nothing has really changed,” the source told This is Beirut.
He maintained that Hezbollah and its ally the Amal Movement, still have cards in hand, and they are still strong at the Lebanese level, though they may be less resistant against the Israelis.
“Internally there is a loss of morale, but on the ground, they are still able to impose themselves and their will,” the source added.
Barrot’s visit to Lebanon could be seen as largely symbolic, but reflects France’s unrelenting efforts and desire to move forward and not to let Lebanon down, according to the source.
“France is the only Western country, the only friend of Lebanon that sent its foreign minister there under bombs. It is the only country that is still talking about a diplomatic solution when everyone else, including Arab states, have let go of Lebanon,” the source concluded.
