French President Emmanuel Macron has called on Israel to "renounce its territorial ambitions" in Lebanon and demanded that Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed movement entrenched in southern Lebanon, halt its rocket fire toward Israel and be disarmed — but crucially, "by the Lebanese themselves." Macron made the remarks on Tuesday at the Élysée Palace alongside Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who was visiting Paris for high-level talks on the fragile situation in the country.
Lebanon, a small Mediterranean nation that has long been a fault line in Middle Eastern geopolitics, has been subject to a tenuous ceasefire that Macron said must be extended to allow "a genuine stabilisation dynamic" to take hold. He advocated for a broader "political agreement between Israel and Lebanon" that would guarantee the security of both countries, preserve Lebanon's territorial integrity, and lay the groundwork for normalising their relations. Nawaf Salam, for his part, insisted on the "total withdrawal" of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory, as well as the return of Lebanese prisoners and displaced persons — conditions Beirut is pressing as diplomatic talks are set to continue Thursday in Washington between Israeli and Lebanese officials.
On the humanitarian front, Salam warned that Lebanon requires some 500 million euros over the next six months to cope with the ongoing crisis — a stark indicator of the scale of destruction and displacement the conflict has caused. France also reaffirmed its readiness to maintain a military presence on the ground after the planned withdrawal of UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, at the end of the year.
Macron also addressed the question of the Israeli-imposed buffer zone in southern Lebanon, with the French presidency describing it as "temporary" — stopping short of demanding its immediate dismantlement. On the broader question of the EU-Israel association agreement, Macron acknowledged it was a "legitimate question" to consider suspending the pact if Israel "continues a policy that contradicts its history," but counselled against rushing toward confrontation given that Israel had recently agreed to the ceasefire and entered into negotiations.
Why this matters: France has historically positioned itself as a key Western interlocutor in Lebanese affairs, and Macron's dual demands — Israeli territorial restraint and Hezbollah disarmament through Lebanese institutions — reflect an attempt to chart a middle path between Israeli security concerns and Lebanese sovereignty. The remarks signal growing European impatience with the stalled implementation of the ceasefire and raise the political stakes ahead of the Washington diplomatic talks.