Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna agreed to establish a joint political-security team between the two countries to implement UN Resolution 1701 (which stipulated that Hezbollah would distance itself from the border area), or any other outline that would distance Hezbollah from the border.
The decision to cooperate comes against the backdrop of Israeli efforts to create a diplomatic front that will lead Hezbollah to the transition to the Litani. This is the first significant action taken by France against Hezbollah.
Nasrallah speaking from the screen in Beirut, photo: Reuters
France is a member of the UN Security Council and has a special status in Lebanon. In recent weeks, Israel has tried to enlist it to act against Hezbollah.
USA in the background
Foreign Minister Cohen, who manages the diplomatic front, also recently appealed to Biden's special envoy to the region, Amos Hochstein, as well as to the Security Council, to force the implementation of Resolution 1701 on Lebanon.
The international efforts are being made with the support of the United States, which also wants Israel not to be on another active front, but they are also a necessary preview of such a front if necessary. Against the background of the desire of most of the Western countries involved in what is happening in the Middle East to prevent a significant political conflagration beyond the Gaza arena, a significant development has been seen in recent days.
French President Jean-Yves Le Drian, the special envoy to Lebanon, met yesterday with senior Lebanese officials, including Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Hezbollah faction chairman in parliament and commander of the Lebanese forces, Mohammed Raad, and warned of the "serious danger" facing Lebanon and called on the government to take responsibility and implement Resolution 1701 as required of it.
Jean-Yves Le Drian at a meeting with Mikati, photo: AP
After that meeting, Geagea, chairman of the Lebanese forces, called on Israel not to violate UN resolutions (not just 1701), and called on Hezbollah to withdraw from southern Lebanon if it wanted to "prevent Israel from violating it," and to leave the Lebanese army and UNIFIL to fulfill their missions.
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