MP Marwan Hamadeh, a member of the Democratic Gathering Bloc, pointed out on Tuesday that the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron’s envoy for Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, to Beirut is aimed at understanding three points, namely “Lebanon’s stance on war and peace, the position regarding the army leadership, and whether or not the internal discussions among some factions have matured towards resuming the process of electing a president for the republic.”
He said that Le Drian’s primary concern was to convince the Lebanese not to slide into war and framed the visit within a context that involved a lot of fact-finding, which would ultimately lead to providing advice.
Hamadeh told Voice of All Lebanon that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri urged all envoys to talk to the Israelis, as “we are in a state of self-defense. We haven’t actually joined the war in Gaza.”
According to Hamadeh, “There is a desire across the world, especially among the Palestinians and the Lebanese, to extend the ceasefire for numerous reasons that include not being dragged into the war.” However, Israeli intentions are “unclear,” he added, “because the Israeli army has not achieved any victory and has not been able to deliver a decisive blow to Hamas as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised.”
He also pointed out that “the greater danger lies in the expansion of the war, not in its resumption in Gaza or in the failure to extend the ceasefire.” He also expressed his concern that “the ceasefire may not last long.”
