The French President’s Special Envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said he would “return to Lebanon shortly,” at the request of President Emmanuel Macron.
“This initiative underlines the need for Lebanese leaders to overcome their rivalries and agree on a functioning institutional system, at a time when war is at Lebanon’s doorstep.”
Le Drian expressed concern about the situation in northern Israel. “Tensions are rising in southern Lebanon, with exchanges of fire and dozens of deaths that we don’t talk about much, including two of your colleagues who were killed yesterday (Tuesday) in southern Lebanon,” he said in an interview with France Info on Wednesday. He was referring to the two Al-Mayadeen TV journalists, Farah Omar and Rabih Maamari, who were killed by Israeli bombs while covering the situation on the southern front.
According to Le Drian, “The statements made by Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah suggest that he probably doesn’t want to go too far. But no one should go too far, and the risk, if tension continues, is that there will be incidents that can no longer be controlled. At that point, an explosion could hit Lebanon,” he warned.
He added, “There could be sparks that cause larger conflagrations.”
