France backs 60-state UN declaration calling for halt to hostilities in Lebanon

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - France is leading a diplomatic initiative at the United Nations that centers on a 60-state declaration to halt hostilities in Lebanon and prevent a total regional collapse, France’s Permanent Representative at the UN Jerome Bonnafont told Rudaw, noting that the declaration calls for an immediate cessation of violence and the reinforcement of Lebanese state sovereignty.

Speaking to Rudaw’s Namo Abdulla in New York, Bonnafont stated, "We have just adopted an important declaration with 60 states that have said what needed to be said about what is happening."

The senior French diplomat further expressed hope that “direct negotiations [between Lebanon and Israel] will be possible soon” and that the Pakistan-brokered, two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran “will also be extended for the benefit of Lebanon."


The US and Israel launched a coordinated military campaign against Iran on February 28, with the US Central Command (CENTCOM) reporting on Tuesday that the operation involved strikes on more than 13,000 targets across Iran.

The Israeli military reported Friday that it carried out nearly 11,000 strikes targeting more than 6,700 components and 4,000 sites in Iran as part of its operation, dubbed Operation Roaring Lion.

In response, Tehran has launched thousands of drone and missile strikes across the Middle East, targeting alleged US assets - particularly in Gulf Arab states - as well as carrying out retaliatory attacks against Israel.

The two-week ceasefire came into effect Tuesday to allow space for negotiations, which are set to begin in Islamabad on Saturday.

However, the Israeli military on Wednesday said they conducted “more than 100 strikes” on positions belonging to the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon within the span of 10 minutes. Tel Aviv argued that the ceasefire did not include Lebanon - a claim backed Washington, but contested by Tehran and Islamabad.

Beirut rejected the claim that Israel struck Hezbollah targets with its health ministry reporting late Thursday that the strikes had killed more than 300 people and injured around 2,000 others - mostly civilians - according to preliminary figures.

Iranian officials have since threatened to withdraw from the Islamabad talks if Israeli strikes in Lebanon continue.

For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday denounced the "indiscriminate [Israeli] strikes" that have caused high civilian casualties in Lebanon, warning they pose a direct threat to the sustainability of the ceasefire.

Similarly, Paris’ Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot reiterated to French media that the ceasefire "must absolutely cover Lebanon."

Prior to the Wednesday bombardment, Israel has since early March carried out hundreds of air raids on what it says are Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

The escalation first began when the Iran-backed armed group launched an initial attack on northern Israel to “avenge” the killing of Iran’s longtime supreme leader, Ali Khamenei (1939-2026), who was killed alongside other senior officials during the US-Israeli strikes in Tehran on February 28.

Hezbollah’s intervention prompted the Lebanese government to take the unprecedented step of banning the Iran-backed group’s military and security activities in early March.

Of note, the developments come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday officially authorized direct negotiations with Lebanon "as soon as possible" following a request for dialogue from Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

The talks, reportedly scheduled to begin next week at the US State Department in Washington - the first direct engagement between the two sides since 1983 - aim to discuss the disarmament of Hezbollah and the establishment of formal peaceful relations.

Signaling his group’s rejection to the direct engagement, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Friday called on the Lebanese government to stop giving "free concessions" to Israel, according to Agence France Presse (AFP).

"We will not accept a return to the previous situation, and we call on officials to stop offering free concessions," Qassem reportedly said in a written message relayed by the Hezbollah-affiliated TV channel, al-Manar, in which he also denounced the "bloody criminality on Wednesday,” referencing the deadly Israeli strikes on Wednesday.