“Yellow line” in Lebanon: the Élysée judges the “buffer zone” imposed by the Israeli army “temporary”

A delimitation that must not last. The Élysée judged this Tuesday that the “buffer zone” imposed by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon was “temporary”, without calling for its immediate dismantling, while affirming that Lebanese “territorial integrity” must be respected “at the end of the negotiations” between the two countries.

French President Emmanuel Macron receives Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam this Tuesday afternoon in Paris, while the situation remains very unstable in Lebanon where a fragile ceasefire has come into force. New discussions are planned for Thursday in Washington between Israeli and Lebanese diplomats.

France affirmed on Sunday that the visit of the head of government would make it possible to reiterate its “support” for the “territorial integrity” of Lebanon and its efforts to disarm the pro-Iranian Hezbollah based in the south of the country.

“Necessary” measures

But the Élysée seemed to put into perspective on Tuesday the “buffer zone” established by Israel in this region. Israeli authorities say they have drawn a “yellow line” deep in southern Lebanon, where their troops are fighting Hezbollah, claiming they want to protect Israeli populations in the north from fire from the Shiite movement.

“We should not pay too much attention today to the Israeli positions which are first and foremost defensive positions, in the sense of the establishment of a buffer zone which they consider to be necessary to ensure their security,” a French official told the press, judging that it was “intended to be temporary”.

“Today, the challenge is not to move these lines and immediately return to lines that were established by the different mandates. Today, the challenge is to stabilize the situation and prevent fighting from resuming,” he insisted.

The “area must be returned to the Lebanese”

According to him, it is “at the end of the negotiations” which are being prepared between the two countries that this zone “must be returned to the Lebanese”, whose “territorial integrity must be respected”, within the framework of a “lasting peace”.

While Israeli officials have made clear they want France to stay out of the negotiations, the Élysée has defended its role in any future settlement.

“France is one of the countries which have a very concrete and very direct role to be able to strengthen the hand of the Lebanese government, to be able to support its action very concretely” in the “implementation” of the disarmament of Hezbollah, argued an advisor to Emmanuel Macron. “There are quite few countries that are capable of mobilizing very directly”, “France is one of them”, and the Israelis like the Americans “are well aware of this”, she added.