The Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun (3rd from left), receiving a delegation of elected officials from La France insoumise composed (from left to right) of Andrée Taurinya, Arnaud Le Gall, Rima Hassan, and Manon Aubry, in the presence of deputy Simon Abi Ramia, in Baabda, on June 9, 2026. (Credit: X / @LBPresidency)
BEIRUT — Speaking to a delegation from La France Insoumise (LFI), the French radical left party visiting Beirut, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that to preserve Lebanon’s stability, Hezbollah’s disarmament must be approached from multiple angles, including social and economic ones.
The LFI delegation includes Members of the European Parliament Manon Aubry and Rima Hassan and MPs Arnaud Le Gall and Andrée Taurinya. The group is in Lebanon for a week, meeting political actors and expressing their "solidarity with the Lebanese people," the party led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon said earlier in the day.
Addressing the French lawmakers, Aoun said that Israel’s withdrawal from occupied territories in South Lebanon — where a 600 square kilometer strip has been unilaterally designated as a “buffer zone” — would “allow Lebanon to extend its authority over the entire territory, end armed demonstrations, and remove any pretext for the retention of weapons other than those of the legitimate authority and its armed forces.”
However, he added that the disarmament of Hezbollah, which holds a large arsenal and has opened fronts against Israel on two occasions, in October 2023 and March 2026, requires a “comprehensive” approach. “There must be a political, military, economic, and social approach,” he said, stressing that this would help “preserve the country’s political, security, and social stability.”
The head of state also expressed hope for “concrete” support from the European Union, particularly for the army and security forces, “in proportion to Lebanon’s role in curbing the migration of Syrian refugees” toward Europe since 2011 and the start of the Syrian civil war.
For his part, MP Arnaud Le Gall, president of the French-Lebanese friendship committee, expressed the delegation’s solidarity with Lebanon in the face of Israeli attacks. He said that during their visit, the delegation would meet political and military officials, NGO workers, and civil defense personnel to assess the consequences of the war and report back to their colleagues in France and the European Parliament.
The delegation was also received by Hervé Lecoq, deputy head of mission of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), according to a post by Rima Hassan on X. She said the meeting was an “opportunity to recall the need to extend the presence of UN forces” in the South beyond their expected withdrawal date in 2026.
A solidarity visit
According to a statement from the radical left party, the delegation will meet Lebanese political groups represented in parliament, as well as senior state officials who are “honoring” the delegation with their reception.
“This solidarity visit comes in the context of the current political situation and Israel's invasion of Lebanon since 2 March 2026,” the statement said, according to Manon Aubry’s entourage.
The LFI members also intend to stress “the urgent need to equip the Lebanese Army with the means to defend the integrity of Lebanese territory and its borders,” as well as “the urgency of suspending the EU-Israel association agreement.”
LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon previously visited Lebanon in January 2024.
