Lebanon · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Joseph Aoun Meets Emmanuel Macron in Paris After Israel Postpones Lebanon Peace Talks
President Joseph Aoun travels to Paris to meet Macron over Lebanon’s regional situation. Macron hosts Paris meeting with Aoun and Abdullah II bolster Lebanon's army and Hezbollah disarmament.
Whether delays signal election momentum.
2 of 3 outlets skipped it: diplomatic negotiations in Washington were postponed and scheduled to resume in October.
The National was read line by line by the Watchdog: 3.1. See the score →
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The Times of Israel
“However, the postponement suggested slowing momentum ahead of Israel’s October 27 election.”Read the original ↗
The National
“It is a highly focused, highly operational meeting, with the objective of providing the best possible support for a clear, credible and realistic plan.”Read the original ↗
The Times of Israel highlights election-linked talk delays while The National foregrounds a technical UNIFIL replacement planning meeting.
Aoun, talks, and strikes
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris after Lebanese and Israeli envoys held a “positive” meeting in Washington, where Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter met his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, as peace talks were postponed until next month.
““positive” meeting in DC”
The postponement came as Lebanese officials said “indiscriminate” IDF strikes in southern Lebanon were undermining Beirut’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah, while Israel argued the Lebanese Armed Forces were not yet up for the task, an assessment IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir echoed.
Aoun said he wants a security agreement with Israel once it withdraws from southern Lebanon “primarily to end the state of hostility and the deployment of the army on the border,” and he said he would discuss “ongoing Israeli attacks” in southern Lebanon, the future of UNIFIL, and direct negotiations with Israel.
In parallel, the US ambassador to Lebanon visited the country’s south on Tuesday, his embassy said, and AFP reported a convoy carrying US envoy Michel Issa entered the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiya where he visited a church.
Zamir told officers during a visit to the northern border that “the IDF is determined to demilitarize the area south of the Litani [River] of Hezbollah’s presence,” linking the objective to the Lebanese army improving its effectiveness on the ground.
Paris conference and reactions
France is leading preparations for a post-UNIFIL era, with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Jordan’s King Abdullah II scheduled to attend a meeting in Paris on Thursday hosted by Macron to push forward talks on replacing UN interim force in south Lebanon (Unifil).
A Macron adviser described the gathering as a “highly focused, highly operational meeting” aimed at providing “the best possible support for a clear, credible and realistic plan to deploy the Lebanese Army across the territory,” while the adviser said Unifil’s scheduled departure under US and Israeli pressure has caused fear in Lebanon and Europe.
In Washington, the Times of Israel reported that Leiter and Moawad agreed to meet again in October to continue negotiations, with the postponement suggesting slowing momentum ahead of Israel’s October 27 election.T
In Paris, the National reported that Macron’s special envoy for Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said: “Strengthening the army is crucial. TYou cannot ask the army to ensure Hezbollah gives up its weapons if it lacks the means to command respect.”
The National also said the meeting would include army chiefs from Lebanon, Jordan, the UK and France, and that discussions with Israeli and US representatives are expected to take place at the UN General Assembly in New York next week.T
What’s at stake next
Lebanon’s Paris-centered planning is framed around preventing a security vacuum after UNIFIL withdraws in December, with Aoun stressing that Lebanon is open to any force replacing UNIFIL but that it should have a legal framework grounded in state sovereignty.
“Lebanon is still seeking alternatives to UNIFIL, which is due to withdraw from the south in December”
The National said Israel is now occupying about 700 square kilometres of Lebanese territory and insists the Lebanese Armed Forces must disarm Hezbollah, while Beirut argues the Israeli occupation and bombing campaigns are weakening state institutions including the military.T
The Times of Israel reported that the Hezbollah terror group has refused to comply with the Israeli-Lebanese framework deal reached in June, under which the Israel Defense Forces would withdraw from areas of south Lebanon held in parallel with Lebanese army deployment starting with so-called pilot zones.T
In the lead-up to the Rome negotiations in October, Al-Liwaa said the Paris preparatory meeting is part of the “Obstacle Course” launched by King Abdullah II in 2015, and it described the next steps as monitoring field developments in the south and preparing the supporting conference for the army in Paris next Thursday.
The stakes are also tied to how international support is conditioned, with the Ladepeche.fr report saying the Paris meeting aims to strengthen the Lebanese army to restore state authority, prepare the disarmament of Hezbollah, and prevent a security vacuum after UNIFIL withdraws at the end of the year.