France's Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot attends an interview with AFP journalists at the Quai d'Orsay French Foreign ministry in Paris on March 24, 2026. (Credit: Thomas Samson/AFP)
BEIRUT — The French foreign minister urged Israel on Tuesday to seize a "historic moment" of dialogue with the Lebanese authorities as Beirut "translates its words into deeds" to counter Tehran's interference in Lebanon.
In an interview with AFP, Jean-Noel Barrot, who visited Lebanon and then Israel last week, called on the Israeli army "to refrain" from conducting operations to seize an area in southern Lebanon, while welcoming Lebanon's "courageous decision" to expel Iran's ambassador to Beirut.
The Lebanese Foreign Affairs Ministry announced Tuesday that it had withdrawn the accreditation of the Iranian ambassador, recently appointed to Beirut, and had given him until Sunday to leave the country.
Beirut has also expelled "a number of representatives of the Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon," noted the French minister. "This is not insignificant, these are major decisions," Jean-Noël Barrot emphasized.
Since Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the regional war, Israel has carried out massive strikes throughout the country, resulting in more than a thousand deaths and over a million displaced people. But Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has reiterated his call for a cease-fire and negotiations with Israel, Barrot noted.
"There is a moment to seize, it is historic, and that moment is now," the minister declared.
Asked about the way forward at a time when Israeli forces are maneuvering in southern Lebanon to seize what Israel describes as an advanced defensive line up to the Litani River, the French minister believes it is constantly necessary to remind everyone that "it is in Israel's interest to live in peace and security with its neighbors."
"And the first step is a high-level political dialogue with the Lebanese government," he said. It is then important to recall "the historic nature of the statements and decisions of the Lebanese government while the country is in a very fragile situation."
Restoring authority
"I have invited the Lebanese authorities, as well as the Israeli authorities, through my counterpart, to seize this opportunity" and "as quickly as possible," at a time when gestures from the Lebanese government "show that it is translating its words into deeds," he also emphasized.
The minister also believed there was no misjudgment regarding the Hezbollah disarmament process.
"It is not me who is saying that it [this process] has produced results, it's the U.S. army, and even the Israeli authorities themselves recognized it once during the nine months that this disarmament process was underway," he said.
The Lebanese Army said in January that it had completed the first phase of this plan, covering the area between the Israeli border and the Litani River, some thirty kilometers further north.
"And the figures produced by the American army are eloquent: much has been done," the minister insisted. "Was it enough to consider that disarmament was complete? Obviously not, since it was only the first phase of a plan that had five phases," he continued.
"There is still a lot of work to do to restore the authority of the state and ensure the monopoly of weapons is in the hands of the state alone. And our goal is to support the Lebanese authorities, to strengthen the Lebanese army." He also warned against a continued escalation in Lebanon.
"It goes without saying that it would probably become much more difficult for discussions like those we are calling for to take place, naturally."
Regarding possible discussions between Americans and Iranians, he declined to say whether France is involved behind the scenes in any potential talks for a Pakistani mediation.
However, he reiterated France's position in the event of substantive negotiations: the "[Iranian] regime will have to agree to major concessions, a radical change of posture enabling the emergence of a political solution (...) so that Iran can live peacefully with its neighbors, cease being a threat to Israel, to the region, and including Europe."
