As the deadline for the withdrawal of troops from southern Lebanon approaches under the terms of the ceasefire that brought an end to the conflict with Hezbollah last year, French President Emmanuel Macron has demanded that Israel step up its push.
During a visit to Beirut on Friday, Macron also said Lebanon’s military must have a total monopoly on weapons, and he voiced France’s support for strengthening the Lebanese army’s deployment in the country’s south.
“We need a total withdrawal of the Israeli army”, Macron said, speaking alongside Lebanon’s new president, Joseph Aoun, who was commander of the Lebanese military until his election this month as head of state.
The French president praised the Lebanese armed forces’ increased strength and their deployment in the south of the nation.
Macron is the first foreign head of state to travel to Beirut since Aoun was elected by the country’s parliament on January 9 to fill the position of head of state, indicating a shift in the nation’s power balance following the war, which severely weakened Iran-aligned Hezbollah.
According to the ceasefire, which was signed on November 27 and was brokered by the United States and France, Hezbollah must remove all of its fighters and weapons from southern Lebanon within 60 days.
As the Israeli army withdraws by January 26th, the Lebanese army must also accompany UN peacekeepers in the south.
Macron demanded that the truce be put into action more quickly with less than a week until the cut-off date.
“There have been results, … but they must be accelerated and long-lasting. There needs to be complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the Lebanese army must hold total monopoly of any weapons” in southern Lebanon, Macron said.
The UN peacekeeping force representative has been assigned to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire, along with a committee made up of Israeli, Lebanese, French, and US delegations.
Macron also made the announcement that Paris would host a Lebanon-related international conference in a few weeks.
“As soon as the president]Aoun] comes to Paris in a few weeks time, we will organise around him an international reconstruction conference to drum up funding”, Macron said.
The international community must get ready to give massive support to infrastructure reconstruction.
Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said that in the words of the French president, “spring has arrived in Lebanon”.
“He’s talking about a new reality in the country, a new leadership. … Macron’s visit is part of showing support to this new leadership”, she said.
Source: Aljazeera
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