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3. France Advises Lebanon to Engage in Negotiations with Israel

France has advised Lebanese officials to respond positively to US calls for negotiations with Israel on the prisoners’ issue, Israel’s withdrawal from five strategic positions it occupies in South Lebanon, the settlement of disputed border points and the demarcation of the land border.

According to Western diplomatic sources, France conveyed this advice on the eve of US Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus’s visit to Lebanon, her second since assuming the post under Donald Trump’s Administration.

“Lebanon cannot remain silent regarding the American proposal, and negotiations or a diplomatic solution do not imply normalization of relations with Israel,” the sources said, adding that the Lebanese government should not refuse to negotiate, but rather be positive and define its conditions, demands and position.

The West also advised Lebanon to return to the armistice agreement signed with Israel in 1949 under the auspices of the United Nations.

The sources questioned why Lebanon – which concluded a US-sponsored agreement with Israel demarcating the maritime border – would reject the American proposal to delineate the land border.

They stressed that if the government wants to save the country, it must abandon slogans and move toward the decision-making stage, because donor countries are waiting for the implementation of reforms and the disarmament of non-state actors before committing to a reconstruction conference for Lebanon, which France plans to convene in July.