French President Emmanuel Macron’s statement on May 7 during a joint press conference with the Syrian president caught Hezbollah off guard. Macron spoke of “the need to confront Hezbollah and limit its influence” in his meeting with Ahmad al-Sharaa, who does not seem to have forgiven Hezbollah for its active role alongside the now-fallen Assad regime.
Is there a connection between these two positions? Has the West, through Macron, given a green light to Sharaa to attack Hezbollah? These are the kinds of questions that Hezbollah’s leaders have surely asked themselves.
It took them two days to process Macron’s words and respond through Ammar Moussawi, Hezbollah's head of Arab and international relations, who did not hold back in his criticism of Macron.
Hezbollah’s shock can be attributed to two factors. The first is that, among Western leaders who are generally hostile to the party, Macron is one of the few who has maintained direct relations with it.
Additionally, for years, France has been one of the European states that insists on not placing the entire entity that is Hezbollah on the list of terrorist groups, limiting the designation to the party’s military wing.
The second reason is Hezbollah’s fear of a potential attack from Syrian territory in the Bekaa Valley. Indeed, since the overthrow of the Assad regime and the rise to power of the former leader of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham — which Hezbollah fought against to defend its ally, but above all, to defend the vital route from Iran, through Syria, and to the Bekaa — the party’s leaders, according to sources close to them, have been receiving aggressive signals they cannot ignore.
There have even been some skirmishes along the eastern border. Moreover, several sources consistently report that during each meeting between Lebanese figures and Syrian officials, the latter directly mentioned Hezbollah’s role in Syria and the need to hold it accountable.
Some sources close to Hezbollah suggested that the new Syrian leadership could be seeking to launch an attack against the group in the Bekaa and the North, in order to gain favor with the West, particularly the Americans and Europeans, while indirectly serving Israeli interests.
Some even went as far as to claim that such a project could even receive the approval of Gulf states, who never had a favorable opinion of Hezbollah’s significant influence in Lebanon.
Hezbollah invoking a threat from Syria could be seen by some Lebanese parties as a pretext for justifying not relinquishing its weapons.. According to this view, Hezbollah has clearly chosen not to respond to Israeli violations and to give diplomacy a chance, implicitly suggesting a willingness to forgo its weapons in the area south of the Litani River. This would naturally reduce the risk of a new direct confrontation with Israel. Therefore, it might now need a new argument to justify keeping its arms.
Whether this interpretation proves accurate or not, Macron’s statement came at a delicate and murky time, as relations between Syria’s new leadership and Lebanese officials remain unclear due to a complicated and fraught history spanning decades.
As the target of Macron’s statement, Hezbollah quickly activated its communication channels in an effort to understand the reasons behind it, before responding in a statement of its own that was more aggressive in tone than in substance.
In fact, the clarifications received by both Lebanese leaders and Hezbollah have been relatively reassuring.
France reiterated that Macron’s position remains unchanged. He clearly and fully supports Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in his desire to prioritize dialogue regarding weapons and to focus on Lebanon’s stability.
French diplomatic sources recalled that, in an effort to bridge differences and facilitate dialogue between Lebanon and Syria’s new leadership, Macron arranged a three-way video call between himself, Aoun, and Sharaa when he hosted the Lebanese president at the presidential palace on March 28.
France has repeatedly demanded the protection of minorities in both Syria and Lebanon and its stance on Gaza is also clear. The French foreign minister recently stated that his country could consider imposing sanctions on Israel due to the situation in the enclave.
Regarding Lebanon, France advocates for the demarcation of the border with Syria, considering that it would be beneficial to Lebanon, and provided maps dating back to 1920 to facilitate the demarcation process.
France’s position in favor of Lebanon, its stability, and its state cannot be called into question. In fact, as part of its interest in Lebanon, France is today organizing a meeting of the Quintet at the Residence des Pins in Beirut. All countries with battalions within UNIFIL, such as Italy and Spain, will also be invited to discuss Lebanese issues of international concern, including reforms and, of course, common security matters.
Even though France is critical of Hezbollah, its position remains the same: France maintains contacts with the political wing of the group and does everything it can to promote stability in Lebanon.