Head of French diplomacy, Catherine Colonna, is expected in Beirut on Monday, the second stop on a regional tour she began in Israel on Sunday.
The aim of Colonna’s tour is twofold: political and humanitarian. France wants to avoid an exacerbation of the military conflict between Israel and Hamas and prevent it from spreading to Lebanon. She is also seeking to obtain the opening of humanitarian corridors in Gaza so that Palestinian refugees in the south of the enclave can be supplied with necessities.
The French Minister will be received at 4 pm by Lebanese Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, announced the press office of the current affairs government. The rest of her appointments have not been announced.
On Sunday, the French presidency had insisted that Lebanon must “stay out of the conflict” between Israel and Hamas, deeming the explosive situation on the southern border “very worrying”. Hezbollah and the Lebanese must show restraint to avoid opening a second front in the region”, whose “The first victim will be Lebanon”, warned the Élysée, insisting that “No pretext should be given for Lebanon to slide once again into war, especially as the country is extremely weakened by the absence of functional authorities” at its head for several years.
It is these messages that Colonna must relay to those in charge of Lebanon.
Her tour comes a day after that of Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who visited Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, while his country stepped up its warnings against Israel. Abdollahian warned that an escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas would lead to the opening of new fronts, alluding to the one in the south, but that “It is up to Hezbollah to decide what to do if Israel’s criminal acts continue”.
Macron’s Warning to Raisi
The Iranian intervention was strongly criticized by Paris, which argued that Tehran should “Refrain from adding to tensions and supporting Hamas”. On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron warned Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi “against any escalation” of the conflict into Lebanon, during a telephone conversation with him.
On the same day, Catherine Colonna met political leaders in Israel, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, according to AFP, which quoted the French Minister’s entourage. “Faced with the risk of a regional conflagration, it is essential for the international community to send out convergent messages to everyone, so that the spirit of responsibility prevails”, Catherine Colonna told AFP.
The French Minister also had a telephone conversation with President Isaac Herzog, to whom she reiterated France’s friendship and solidarity. She also discussed respect for international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians.
She also held talks with the leader of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, as well as with international organizations, NGOs, and religious representatives.
The Minister also had two telephone conversations with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “In the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, it is extremely important that Israel allow the United Nations to supply water, food, and basic necessities to the Palestinian population displaced southwards,” she told AFP. Colonna went with her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen to the hospital in Ashkelon, some 15 km from the Gaza Strip, to meet victims of the bloody attack launched by Hamas on October 7.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna (C) and Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen (R) visit the damaged Barzilai Medical Center in the city of Ashkelon on October 15, 2023 (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)
“I wanted to come to the hospital (…) because it’s a way of showing France’s solidarity with Israel, which has suffered a monstrous terrorist attack, and also a way of saying that France shares the grief of the Israeli people because it also knows the price of terrorism”, stressed the French Minister, recalling that these attacks claimed 17 French victims, according to a provisional toll.
Catherine Colonna also spoke of the “heart-rending testimonies” that families had shared with her while wanting to see a glimmer of hope in the children being cared for at the hospital: “Caring for children is also a way of looking to the future”.