France

Macron Hosts Paris Talks to Bolster Lebanon's Army

Does Lebanon's army need sustained international backing to assert state authority, or must Hezbollah disarm before any further concessions are earned?

Published 10 hours ago

Macron Hosts Paris Talks to Bolster Lebanon's Army

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Above: French President Emmanuel Macron met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Sept. 17. Image credit: Quentin de Groeve/Hans Lucas/AFP/Getty Images

The Spin

Anti-Israel narrative

Lebanon's army is the only force that can carry state authority across the whole country, and it deserves long-term, funded partnership instead of scraps handed out in each individual crisis. With UNIFIL's mandate ending, a planned international successor mission is essential to prevent a security vacuum in the south. And the commitments can't be completed while Israeli strikes keep killing civilians and Lebanese land stays occupied.

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Pro-Israel narrative

No amount of conference money changes the core problem: Hezbollah still refuses to disarm, and the Lebanese army has not shown it can enforce the framework deal on the ground. Withdrawals were already made into pilot zones, and further pullbacks have to be earned by real results, not promised at donor summits in Paris. Until the tunnels and weapons depots are gone, strikes on that terror infrastructure remain justified.

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