Lebanese Army soldiers deployed after an Israeli airstrike carried out during the night against the village of Kfar Roummane, in southern Lebanon, on Sept. 7, 2026. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
To "consolidate Lebanon's sovereignty," an "operational" meeting will bring together high-ranking military officials from several countries in Paris on Thursday to prepare international support for deploying the Lebanese Army across Lebanon, the Élysée announced Tuesday.
French President Emmanuel Macron will open the meeting, along with his Lebanese counterpart Joseph Aoun and Jordan's King Abdullah II, after the leaders meet in the morning. The Lebanese Army, underpaid and poorly equipped, is struggling in its mission to disarm Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Israel has made its withdrawal from Lebanese territory conditional upon the disarmament of the pro-Iranian group and currently occupies more than 600 square kilometers in the South, where dozens of villages have been destroyed.
This meeting, described as "operational," will bring together, in particular, chiefs of staff and senior military officials from France, the United Kingdom, Jordan, Lebanon and the United States. Saudi Arabia will also be represented. The objective is to review "the deployment plan" of the Lebanese Army according to a "clear, credible, realistic plan," the Élysée said.
The French presidency wants "the operational context, parameters and modalities of this action to be clarified by the end of this working day," as a prerequisite for "very robust and operational" support from the international community, whether through financial aid, equipment or training.
"What we want is to consolidate Lebanon's sovereignty," the Élysée told journalists. "It is obviously out of the question for us to replace the Lebanese Army and other relevant Lebanese services in the disarmament of Hezbollah." This initiative is part of a broader effort to support Lebanese institutions.
The European Union is also working to create a training mission for the Lebanese Armed Forces, in line with U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 and the provisions governing the deployment of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) since 2006. Meanwhile, Paris and Rome, the main troop contributors to UNIFIL, are considering changes to the international arrangement in the South to avoid any "security vacuum" in this sensitive region once the U.N. force's mandate ends later this year, the Élysée announced.
Lebanon will also be a key topic at the U.N. General Assembly next week in New York. However, the outlines of a possible international mission remain undefined. Lebanese authorities have not yet made a specific request, and discussions are ongoing, the report said, in a context where the United States also plays a central role at the Security Council.