Details of the French proposal to end the fighting between Hezbollah and the occupation in 3 stages
France submitted a written proposal in Beirut aimed at ending the fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli occupation in three phases, while calling for the resumption of negotiations to demarcate borders. According to Reuters, the French proposal would move the militants, including Hezbollah's elite unit, to 10 km from the border.
Reuters, citing four senior Lebanese officials and three French officials, said French Foreign Minister Stephane Segournet handed over the document last week to senior officials in the Lebanese state, including interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
It was the first written proposal submitted to Beirut to end fighting, particularly in French southern Lebanon, after weeks of Western mediation.
A three-step plan
The French proposal aims to prevent conflict, which would “threaten the spiral of control” and impose a “possible cease-fire, when the conditions are right”, and eventually envisage negotiations between Lebanon and Israel to delimit the disputed land border.
In the past few weeks, some details have circulated about similar mediation efforts by Amos Hochstein, the US envoy to the Middle East, but there has been no previous report on the full details of the written French proposal presented to Lebanon.
The three-step plan calls for a 10-day escalation process ending with border talks, and a French diplomatic source said the proposal has been presented to the governments of Israel and Lebanon, as well as Hezbollah.
Sigourney said at a press conference yesterday, Monday, “We have made proposals. We are in contact with the Americans and it is important that we combine all efforts to build peace.” France has historic ties to Lebanon and has a population of 20,000. About 800 soldiers from the country and the United Nations peacekeeping force.
The plan proposes that the Lebanese Armed Forces and Israel cease military operations against each other in Lebanon, including Israeli airstrikes, and that the Lebanese Armed Forces demolish all buildings and facilities near the border and withdraw combat forces, including the Radwan Brigade, Hezbollah's elite fighters. Troops. , as well as military capabilities such as anti-tank systems at least 10 kilometers north of the border.
Such a withdrawal would bring Hezbollah fighters much closer to the border than the 30 km withdrawal to the Litani River in Lebanon stipulated in a UN resolution that ended the war with Israel in 2006.
A Western diplomat familiar with the two-sided proposal said a shorter withdrawal would help ensure rockets did not reach villages in northern Israel, which are targeted by anti-tank missiles, and that a compromise was more palatable to Hezbollah than a retreat. To the river Litani..
The proposal also calls for the deployment of 15,000 Lebanese Army soldiers to the border region of southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah political stronghold, where the group's fighters have long been integrated into society during periods of peace.
Hizbullah: No discussion until the occupation of Gaza ends
In response to a question about the motion, a prominent Hezbollah politician, MP Hassan Fadlallah, told Reuters that “the group will not discuss any matter related to the situation in the south before ending the occupation of Gaza.” He mentioned that he is not in a position to impose conditions. He declined to comment on the details of the proposal or whether Hezbollah had received it.
In response to a request for comment for this story, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said the U.S. “continues to discuss all diplomatic options with our Israeli and Lebanese counterparts to restore calm and avoid escalation.” The White House did not immediately respond. Asked for comment, an Israeli official said the government had received the proposal and was discussing it
One of the Lebanese officials said the document collects ideas discussed in contacts with Western diplomats and transferred to Hezbollah. French officials told the Lebanese it was not the final document after Beirut objected to parts of it.
A Lebanese official said several elements raised concerns in Beirut, such as the armed groups' demand to demolish buildings and facilities near the border, which the official said was vaguely worded and could be used to demand action against Hezbollah's civilian institutions.
Lebanon's border with the Occupied Palestinian Territories has seen clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli occupation since October 8, following the start of its war in the occupied Gaza Strip, a day after the Al-Aqsa anti-Palestinian movement flooded.
But despite Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip intensifying and causing dozens of massacres, the Lebanese front was partially controlled, as the clashes were limited to a limited exchange of bombs, martyrs fell to Hezbollah, and deaths in the ranks of the occupying soldiers. However, these “contained” conflicts do not eliminate the risk of further escalation of the war in Lebanon or even the outbreak of a regional war. As of now, all possibilities are possible, especially after the recent significant increase in the region.
(Reuters, Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed)
