The Japan Times - Macron hosts Lebanon security talks as UN mission nears end

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and King Abdullah II of Jordan.

They were joined by chiefs of defence staff from Lebanon, Jordan, France, Britain and Italy, as well as top US and Saudi officials, a French military source said.

The talks come as the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) ends this year after almost half a century of operations dating back to the Israeli invasion of 1978.

Last year, the UN Security Council, under US pressure, decided to end UNIFIL's mandate on December 31, 2026.

France and Italy have said they want to set up a multinational coalition to succeed UNIFIL.

Lebanon will be one of key issues on the agenda as world leaders gather for the UN General Assembly in New York next week.

"The aim for the participants is to jointly assess what the Lebanese armed forces need," the French military source said, referring to the Paris talks.

"The goal is to find realistic and effective solutions."

- 'Future of international presence' -

Aoun told AFP this week that Lebanon wanted a new force, European or otherwise, to prevent a security vacuum after the UN peacekeepers leave south Lebanon.

During bilateral talks earlier Thursday, Macron and Aoun discussed "progress in drafting proposals for the Security Council regarding the future of the international presence in southern Lebanon," the Lebanese presidency said.

The two leaders also discussed Israeli attacks against Lebanese villages and towns and efforts to halt them, the presidency added.

Israel and the United States attacked Iran in February, sparking a war that has spread across the Middle East.

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the wider conflict when it fired rockets at Israel in solidarity with the Tehran government.

Israel attacked south Lebanon and its forces continue to occupy what it calls a "security zone", a stretch of Lebanese territory about 10 kilometres (six miles) deep along the border.

In June, Israel and Lebanon signed a US-sponsored framework agreement that involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon's south and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region.

Violence declined following the June agreement and a wider US-Iran deal, but Israel has pressed its attacks on Lebanon.

- 'Without confrontation' -

The French presidency said the aim of the Paris talks was to review a Lebanese armed forces deployment plan based on a "clear, credible and realistic" framework.

Paris said it wanted this as a prerequisite for what it hopes will be "robust" international support, whether in the form of financial assistance, equipment or training.

The poorly equipped Lebanese forces have struggled to carry out their mission of disarming Hezbollah in the south, which is a key condition for Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

Aoun has reiterated his determination to disarm Hezbollah, but "without a confrontation".

The Lebanese president has also called on Europeans, Americans and Arab nations to support the Lebanese army.

UNIFIL, which must end by the end of the year, has just under 7,500 peacekeepers from 46 countries.

On Thursday, Aoun also stressed the importance of organising a conference on the reconstruction of Lebanon, which Macron had hoped to hold alongside the conference aimed at supporting the Lebanese armed forces.

The outbreak of war in the spring postponed both gatherings indefinitely.

Lebanon has been dealing with an unprecedented financial crisis since 2019 and was still reeling from the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war when the Iran-backed group drew it into the Middle East conflict in March.

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K.Inoue--JT