Israel has not yet responded to French paper on Lebanon de-escalation
Israel has not given a response to a French proposal to de-escalate tensions on the Lebanese-Israeli border, French foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said.
Lemoine said the Lebanese response was "rather favorable" but Israel had still not not officially responded to the proposal.
Lebanon's Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israel since the Palestinian group's October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered war in Gaza.
French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné, who visited both Lebanon and Israel last month, had submitted to Lebanese officials an amendment to a proposal Paris had previously presented to Lebanon for a diplomatic resolution to the border conflict.
"We have had a relatively positive response from the Lebanese, but I think we have not had any return from Israel at this point,” Christophe Lemoine told reporters in a daily briefing Thursday.
The plan proposes an end to violence on both sides and the withdrawal of Hezbollah's elite unit al-Radwan forces and other armed groups ten kilometers from the border with Israel, according to Lebanese officials.
It stipulates that the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) has complete freedom of movement in the region, that the Lebanese army plays an increased role there and that its troops must be reinforced.
It was amended at the request of Beirut which considered the first version too favorable to Israel.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri delivered Lebanon’s response to the amended paper to the French embassy in Beirut earlier this month.
Berri’s aide MP Ali Hassan Khalil said the amended version was better than the first one, despite some reservations. He said the amendments included a roadmap for implementing Resolution 1701.
Local media reports said the amended paper used the term "redeployment" instead of "withdrawal" of Hezbollah beyond the Litani River.
France has been trying since the end of January to contain the violence on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
Séjourné had "recalled France's commitment to supporting the sovereignty and stability of Lebanon" and "recalled the efforts led by France to contribute to de-escalation, in particular through consultations between all parties in favor of a diplomatic solution," as he spoke to his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib have discussed Wednesday.
French special envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, left Beirut on Thursday without having been able to convince the political parties to agree on electing a president. He warned the officials he met that "the very existence of political Lebanon is in danger."
Source: Naharnet
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