Israel and Hezbollah must halt their fire so that a third Lebanon war can be prevented, French President Emmanuel Macron told the UN General Assembly during its high-level debate on Wednesday.
“We must not – we cannot – have a war in Lebanon,” Macron said.
“There cannot be a war in Lebanon. This why we urge Israel to cease its escalation” in Lebanon, Macron stressed.
He also called on Hezbollah “to cease its missile launches to Israel. We urge all of those who provide them with the means to do so, to stop doing so.”
Hezbollah “for too long, has been running an untenable risk of dragging Lebanon into a wall,” Macron said. He added, however, that “Israel cannot, without consequence, just expand its operations to Lebanon.
“France demands that everyone respect their obligations along the Blue Line” between Israel and Lebanon, he said, as he called for a diplomatic resolution that would spare civilian lives and prevent a regional conflagration.
France has a special relationship with Lebanon and has been heavily involved in efforts to secure a diplomatic resolution to the year-long constrained cross-border war between the IDF and Hezbollah.
Macron calls for release of hostages
Macron, in his speech, condemned Hamas for its invasion of Israel on October 7, in which over 1,200 people were killed and 250 seized as hostages.
“We condemn strongly the terrorist attack, which was terrible and unprecedented, carried out by Hamas against Israel on October 7,” he said.
“Terrorism is unacceptable, whatever the causes may be, and here we mourn the victims of the Hamas attack on October 7,” Macron stated, adding that 48 of those massacred were French citizens.
He also called for the release of the remaining 101 hostages in Gaza, including several with French citizenship.
Macron backed Israel’s right to self-defense in his speech, including its waging of a war against Hamas in Gaza – but said that the war that began on October 7 “has gone on for too long.”
The thousands of Palestinian victims “can not be justified,” he stressed.
“There are too many innocent people who died, and we mourn them [the Palestinian victims] too,” Macron said.
“Those people who have died are an outrage for humanity and a dangerous source of hatred and resentment, which threatens – and will threaten – everyone’s security, including that of Israel tomorrow.
“So this war needs to stop, and a ceasefire needs to happen as soon as possible,” Macron said, as he also called for the hostages to be freed.
Moving forward, Macron said, there must be a two-state resolution to the conflict.
“France will do ensure everything can be done so the Palestinian people can finally have a state... and the path towards this must be as short as possible,” he said.