French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun shake hands as they attend a press conference after their meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday. Macron was on a one-day visit to Beirut to meet with Lebanese new political leaders. Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA-EFE
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Jan. 17 (UPI) — French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that Israel must accelerate its withdrawal from south Lebanon to achieve a full pullout, and that the Lebanese Army should have the total control over weapons — in line with a cease-fire agreement that ended the war between Hezbollah and Israel last year.
“There should be a total pullout of the Israeli forces and a total monopoly of weapons by the Lebanese Army,” Macron said during a joint news conference with Lebanon’s newly elected President Joseph Aoun at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, southeast of Beirut.
His remarks came ahead of the 60-day deadline provided in the cease-fire agreement, that was brokered by the United States and France on Nov.27.
Under the accord, Hezbollah must end its military presence and withdraw to south of the Litani River, while Israeli forces should pull out completely to pave the way for the Lebanese Army to deploy and take control of the area.
The 10,251-member-strong United Nations peacekeeping forces, UNIFIL, was to assist the Lebanese Army in restoring stability to the southern region.
Macron said Lebanon exercising state authority over its territories was a condition to preserve the country from aggressions and consolidate the cease-fire with Israel.
He pledged to keep supporting Lebanon and its armed forces, as well as continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged country.
Macron announced that Paris will host an international conference within the coming few weeks to mobilize funding for the reconstruction of Lebanon.
He called on the international community to be ready for “massive support to the reconstruction of infrastructure and houses” that were destroyed during the 14-month war, particularly in southern Lebanon.
The relentless Israeli air and ground bombardment led to widespread destruction of villages, property, hospitals and schools in Beirut’s southern suburbs and in southern and eastern Lebanon. It also killed or wounded more than 20,000 people.
Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Israel to end its occupation and military operations in southern Lebanon.
Guterres, who was speaking during a visit to the UNIFIL Headquarters in the border village of Naqoura in southern Lebanon, said the “continued occupation” by the Israeli Army inside the UNIFIL area operations and “the conduct of military operations in Lebanese territory” violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.
“They must stop,” he said.
Guterres also noted U.N. peacekeeping forces uncovered 100 weapons caches belonging to Hezbollah or other armed groups since the cease-fire started Nov. 27 in the southern region.
He emphasized that “the presence of armed personnel, assets and weapons,” other than those of the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL, “are also clear violations of Resolution 1701 and undermine Lebanon’s stability.”
The U.N. chief urged the international community to strengthen support to the Lebanese Army which is deploying in greater numbers to southern Lebanon.
“We are in a period of relative calm that needs to be nurtured,” he said, referring to “a long-awaited opportunity” to support Israel and Lebanon make real progress toward fully implementing resolution 1701.
The U.N. resolution was adopted in 2006 to end a then Hezbollah-Israel war and calls for a full cessation of hostilities between the two parties.
