French President Emmanuel Macron’s special envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian on Friday described Israel’s actions in Lebanon as “disproportionate" after heavy overnight air strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Speaking to French TV channel TF1, Mr Le Drian, a former foreign and defence minister, added that Israeli attacks were likely to “solidify Shiite unity” amid attempts by the Lebanese army to dismantle Iran-backed Hezbollah’s weapons.
By joining the war against Iran last week with strikes against Israel, Hezbollah “played the Iran card, not the Lebanon card", Mr Le Drian said. “The fact that Hezbollah has started acting in this way has provoked questions and even anger in the Shiite community,” he added.
Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East on Monday, when Hezbollah opened fire. This ignited a new Israeli offensive, with air strikes focused on Beirut's southern suburbs and on southern and eastern Lebanon. At least 123 Lebanese have been killed. There have been no reported fatalities in Israel.
Mr Le Drian warned that Hezbollah will only be dismantled if “the Shiite community shares this need to prioritise the interests of Lebanon over the interests of factions”.
Lebanon's army
Earlier this week, The National revealed that the Lebanese army had begun arresting members of Hezbollah and other non-state actors in accordance with an unprecedented cabinet decision outlawing the Iran-backed group’s military and security activities.
French calls for Israel to stop its large-scale military operation against Lebanon have gone unheeded.
In a statement on X late on Thursday, Mr Macron said France was boosting its military assistance to Lebanon, including by sending armoured transport vehicles. “I hope other countries will do the same,” Mr Le Drian said.
France has donated several batches of armoured vehicles since 2011. "Everything must be done to prevent this country, so close to France, from once again being drawn into war," Mr Le Drian said.
Speaking on TV France 2 shortly after the announcement, Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that France would "deliver armoured vehicles to the Lebanese army to enable them to carry out their operations".
Israel 'striking hard'
It remains unclear what impact French pressure on Israel has had. Israeli army chief of staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir said on Thursday night that he had ordered troops “to advance and expand the area of control along the border, while establishing positions at key points in southern Lebanon". Lt Gen Zamir added: “We are striking hard, on the front line and deeper into Lebanon.”
The Lebanese army has extended its control over Hezbollah's historic stronghold in south Lebanon since a US and French brokered ceasefire with Israel was struck in late 2024. Hezbollah had started launching air attacks against Israel in support of Hamas after the October 7 attacks in Israel.
Following the ceasefire, a mechanism overseen by the US, with French input, was set up to oversee the disarming of Hezbollah. However meetings have been on hold since early January.
Israel's air war against Hezbollah in late 2024 weakened the group, which also operates as a political party. It was created by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982 amid the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon, which withdrew in 2000 due to Hezbollah's guerrilla warfare tactics.
