France hosted a high-level meeting on Thursday with US, Saudi and Lebanese officials to discuss security in Lebanon amid warnings of a collapse in the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanese army commander Gen Rodolphe Haykal briefed overseas partners, including French chief of defence staff Gen Fabien Mandon, on progress made in disarming the Iran-backed militia.
There was a "consensus to thoroughly document these advances", Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux said. The US was represented by President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, and US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa.
Also present were President Emmanuel Macron's personal envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and Saudi envoy Prince Yazid bin Farhan.
Gen Haykal arrived in Paris on Wednesday night. His first meeting was with Gen Mandon, who said on X that French support for the Lebanese army aims “to contribute to maintaining stability and lasting peace, in respect of Lebanon's sovereignty."
In a joint statement, the US, Saudi Arabia and France said they had agreed to hold an international meeting in support of the Lebanese army in February.
The location has not yet been decided. There was an expectation that the long-discussed conference may take place in Saudi Arabia.
"The special envoys expressed their support for the Lebanese Armed Forces and their sacrifices," the statement said.
France plays a minor role in the US-led ceasefire mechanism agreed on in November 2024. As a former colonial power, it maintains close links with Beirut, and hopes to bolster the relatively weak Lebanese army, which has been struggling to disarm Hezbollah.
France wants to "equip the ceasefire monitoring mechanism with concrete resources on the ground to verify the progress of the Lebanese Armed Forces and the disarmament of Hezbollah", French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said.
Diplomats said the closed-door talks were taking place in tense conditions as the Israeli army launched more strikes on Lebanon.
"The situation is extremely precarious, full of contradictions and it won't take much to light the powder keg," said one senior official speaking on condition of anonymity.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun "doesn't want to make the disarming process too public because he fears it will antagonise and provoke tensions with the Shiite community in the south of the country", they said, quoted by Reuters.
Asked by The National if France believed the December 31 deadline for disarming Hezbollah was likely to be respected, Mr Confavreux said: "If there is a need to postpone it, partners will discuss it and therefore I do not want to pre-empt their discussion, which will take place in the coming days."
The Paris meeting comes a day before a separate gathering in Beirut of the US-led committee that oversees the implementation of the ceasefire. It includes representatives from Lebanon, Israel, the US, France and the UN.
Earlier in the day, Israel announced a new round of attacks on southern Lebanon. “The [army] attacked a camp and military buildings of the terrorist Hezbollah in scattered areas of Lebanon,” Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X on Thursday.
He added that the presence of the group's infrastructure was a “violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and a threat to the state of Israel”.
Parliamentary Speaker and Hezbollah-allied Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri said the strikes were an "an Israeli message to the Paris conference dedicated to supporting the Lebanese army", Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported.
Israel has been bombarding Lebanon almost daily despite the ceasefire, killing hundreds. Thursday's strikes came two days after Lebanon's Health Ministry said an Israeli strike had killed one person and wounded others in the Shouf district.
Hezbollah started attacking Israel after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel retaliated with heavy bombardment, killing most of Hezbollah's senior and mid-ranking commanders.
According to the ceasefire, Hezbollah was required to pull its forces north of the Litani river, about 30km from the border with Israel, and have its military infrastructure in the vacated area dismantled.
Hezbollah was the only militia at the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war to keep its weapons to fight Israel.
France hopes Saudi Arabia will soon organise a conference to support the Lebanese army but no date has been announced.
