French FM visits Lebanon in bid to stop escalation of Israel-Hezbollah conflict

Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is visiting Lebanon today to push proposals to prevent further escalation and a potential war between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah amid the ongoing war in Gaza. “The objective is to prevent a regional conflagration and avoid that the situation deteriorates even more on the border between Israel and Lebanon,” Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said at a news conference. France has historical ties with Lebanon, and earlier this year, Sejourne delivered an initiative proposing Hezbollah’s elite unit pull back 10km (6 miles) from the Israeli border and Israel to halt strikes in southern Lebanon. France has 700 soldiers based in southern Lebanon as part of the 10,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force. “If I look at the situation today, if there was not a war in Gaza, we could be talking about a war in southern Lebanon given the number of strikes and the impact on the area,” French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said after visiting the UN peacekeeping force in Naqoura, southern Lebanon. “I will pass messages and make proposals to the authorities here to stabilise this zone and avoid a war.” Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #Lebanon #Israel #Hezbollah #SouthernLebanon #alHabbariyeh #KiryatShmona #LebanonIsraelBorderTension #Palestine #Gaza #Israel #IsraelHamasWar #GazaWar #IsraelWar #IsraelPalestineWar #IsraelGazaWar