Israel Hayom: Tomorrow (Wednesday), an official delegation from France will land in Israel in an attempt to force Hezbollah and Lebanon to move forces from the border with Israel diplomatically and avoid war.
Documentation of the Egoz unit's activity on the Lebanese border // IDF Spokesperson
The French diplomatic team that will land here is expected to meet with its Israeli counterparts during the day to discuss ways to force the implementation of Resolution 1701 to move Hezbollah terrorists from the border with Israel. France joined the issue at the request of Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who told his counterparts in France and other countries that if the diplomatic activity did not succeed, Israel would be forced to take military action to remove the fighting force from its border.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna are expected to meet again, and they decided to set up parallel teams to monitor their work. Meanwhile, French intelligence chief Bernard Amieux arrived in Lebanon today and met with representatives of the Lebanese government in an attempt to examine how to pressure Hezbollah to honor Security Council Resolution 1701.
France has been acting prominently in the region over the past week after Israel made its intentions clear through diplomatic channels: joint international activity or Israeli military activity to defend its border.
For example, last week French President Jean-Yves Le Drian, the special envoy to Lebanon, met with senior Lebanese officials, including Prime Minister Najib Mikati, chairman of Hezbollah's faction 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.
A common front against terrorism. Cohen and his counterpart, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, photo: Alan Azaria
The start of the team's work in Israel will be the first significant action taken by France against Hezbollah. 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 the Middle East to prevent a significant political conflagration beyond the Gaza arena, developments are expected at this very moment.
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