Disarming Hezbollah is responsibility of the Lebanese Army, French Foreign Ministry says

The French Foreign Ministry stated in a declaration to Saudi channel al-Arabiya on Friday that France condemns Israeli strikes and that disarming Hezbollah remains a mission for the Lebanese Army — a mission Paris fully supports.

France “condemns all Israeli strikes that cause civilian casualties in southern Lebanon,” said the Quai d’Orsay. The ministry reminded that “disarming Hezbollah is a mission that falls to the Lebanese Army” and emphasized that this task “is difficult and requires daily effort.” “We support the Lebanese Army in its mission to disarm Hezbollah,” it added, also saying it “fully supports the Lebanese government’s plan to restore sovereignty in the south.”

These statements come a day after a series of Israeli airstrikes targeted “terrorist infrastructure and several weapons depots belonging to the Radwan Force unit” in Taybeh, Tayr Debba, Aita al-Jabal, Zaoutar al-Sharqieh and Kfar Dounin. These attacks, nearly a year after the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah on Nov. 27, 2024, took place as the Lebanese government was meeting the Presidential Palace in Baabda to discuss, among other things, the progress of the disarmament process of Hezbollah led by the Lebanese Army.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar received a delegation from the “Tony Blair Institute for Global Change” (TBI) at his office on Friday. Hajjar emphasized “the need for the international community to support the implementation of the government’s decision to extend the authority of the state over all Lebanese territory exclusively by its own forces, while exerting pressure on the Israeli enemy to withdraw and end its daily attacks, and ensuring the reconstruction process and delivery of necessary aid.” He also stressed “the importance of supporting all security services by providing the necessary logistical means.”