France will host a meeting this month with King Abdullah II of Jordan before a conference in support of the Lebanese army, a senior French official said on Friday.
The aim is to help Lebanese security forces disarm Hezbollah. The Iran-backed militia is refusing to lay down its weapons amid hostilities with Israel, which occupies about seven per cent of Lebanese territory.
“A new initiative is being launched under the Aqaba Process, under the auspices of the King of Jordan. I hope it will take place in Paris on September 17,” said French President Emmanuel Macron's special envoy for Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian.
“Strengthening the army is crucial. You cannot ask the army to ensure Hezbollah gives up its weapons if it lacks the means to command respect,” Mr Le Drian added. He was speaking during a panel on Lebanon at an event in France's capital promoting French diplomacy and organised by the Foreign Ministry.
The Aqaba process is an initiative launched in 2015 by King Abdullah II to enhance regional military and security co-operation. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is expected to attend the Paris meeting as well as US and Saudi representatives, according to media reports.
Support framework
France had initially planned a conference to support the Lebanese army in March but was forced to push it back that has yet to be confirmed after the Iran war began in late February.
A former colonial power in the region, France has maintained close ties to Lebanon. Paris is leading efforts with Italy to set up a support mission to the Lebanese army in anticipation of the withdrawal in December of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon after nearly five decades of deployment.
There is concern that the army would be further weakened without international support. More than 10 EU states, including Ireland, are interested in joining the mission, the EU's foreign policy and security chief Kaja Kallas said earlier this week, though its set-up remains unclear.
French diplomatic sources told The National that France had for several months been supporting the establishment of an EU security and defence policy mission aimed at strengthening the army's capabilities, in co-ordination with Lebanese authorities.
“France is prepared to play a leading role in this mission, which is intended to form part of the international support architecture for Lebanon’s sovereignty following the scheduled departure of Unifil,” they said.
Preoccupation
Mr Le Drian said he was “extremely preoccupied” with Israel's occupation of Lebanon. The Israeli government is unlikely to make concessions on Lebanon before elections scheduled for October. Hezbollah has also signalled that it rejects US-brokered negotiations and appears to have tightened its alliance with Iran.
Hezbollah's choice on March 2 to strike Israel after the start of the war on Iran was a mistake but it also triggered a “completely disproportionate” Israeli response, Mr Le Drian said. Israel bombed and invaded south Lebanon, where it is has destroyed several border villages.
Now, Israel is supposed to withdraw from so-called pilot zones in which the Lebanese army is meant to deploy and Hezbollah withdraw but talks are stalling.
Mr Le Drian also highlighted that the latest war had torpedoed Lebanon's fragile recovery efforts after years of financial crisis and an Israeli bombing campaign in 2024 that killed most of Hezbollah's mid and high-ranking officials.
The election in early 2025 of pro-western president Joseph Aoun, a former army chief, had raised hopes that Lebanon would push forward with Hezbollah's disarmament and implement urgent government and financial reforms.
“The fact that there were glimpses of possibility for the Lebanese people in the first half of 2025 leads me to believe that there is still strong hope for Lebanon,” Mr Le Drian said. “It is no longer the Titanic, but it is not yet saved.”
Mr Le Drian, a frequent traveller to Lebanon, is widely known for speaking frankly about the country and its ills. In 2020, when he was France's foreign minister, he described Lebanon as “the Titanic without the orchestra”, in reference to the famous ship's musicians who continued playing music while it sank in the freezing North Atlantic Ocean.
