Lebanon receives official border solution paper from Paris

Lebanon has received an official paper containing Paris’ vision for resolving the border conflict with Israel, following the previous unofficial paper, media reports said.

“The new paper was submitted by the French embassy in Lebanon on Wednesday and is written in Arabic, French and English, knowing that the previous paper contained only an English text,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Thursday.

“The official paper mentions the Shebaa Farms and the Kfarshouba Hills and the need to discuss their issue in the future,” the daily said.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, who received the paper, will discuss with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati the official response that should be sent to the French side, the newspaper added.

Cross-border exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah have killed at least 271 people on the Lebanese side since October 8, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including 42 civilians. On the Israeli side, 10 soldiers and six civilians have been killed, according to the Israeli army.

The fighting has also displaced tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border and Israel has repeatedly warned that it might use force against Hezbollah to secure its residents' return.