PARIS (Reuters) – Israeli officials are insisting on maintaining a capacity to strike Lebanon at any moment as part of conditions to secure a ceasefire with Iran-backed Hezbollah, France’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.
Speaking to a parliamentary hearing after holding talks in Israel last week in Jerusalem, Jean-Noel Barrot said it was a condition increasingly voiced among Israeli officials.
“Today we hear in Israel voices calling for it to keep a capacity to strike at any moment or even enter Lebanon, as is the case with its neighbour Syria,” said Barrot, who held talks with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and new Defence Minister Israel Katz last week.
“That is not compatible with the sovereignty of a strong country,” Barrot said, referring to broader efforts to help strengthen Lebanon’s governance.
Several diplomats said that it would be all but impossible to get Hezbollah or Lebanon to accept any proposal that included this demand.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the remarks. Its defence minister, Israel Katz, said earlier: “We will not allow any arrangement that does not include the achievement of the war’s objectives – and above all Israel’s right to enforce and act on its own against any terrorist activity.”
France, which has historical ties with Lebanon, has sought to play a role in trying to secure a ceasefire in the Middle Eastern country.
It has worked with the United States to try to implement a temporary ceasefire, but those talks stalled at the end of September.
Coordination between Paris and the outgoing U.S. administration to get a ceasefire has been more complicated since, with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein focused on his own proposals.
Barrot said it made no sense for France to lead initiatives by itself on Lebanon given it needed the United States to convince Israel, just like it was not helpful for Washington to go it alone because it would “lack a fine appreciation of Lebanon’s internal political dynamics,” he said.
(Reporting by John Irish; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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