"I want to work with you to change Lebanon, but prove that you are Lebanese" said Macron, a French source in Beirut told Le Figaro.
"Everyone knows you have an Iranian agenda. We know your history very well, we know your particular identity. But are you Lebanese – yes or no? Do you want to help the Lebanese – yes or no? Are you talking about the Lebanese people – yes or no?" Macron asked.
The French president recommended that Hezbollah "come home, leave Syria and Yemen, and do the job here to build a state – because this new state will also benefit your families,” according to Le Figaro.
When asked during a press conference soon afterward if France would accept Hezbollah members being in a future government, Macron responded that "Hezbollah has deputies elected by the Lebanese; it is part of the political scene."
Macron's meeting with Raad was the first of its kind since the founding of Hezbollah. The terrorist group announced that it saw the president's visit at "positive," with some members of the group seeing the meeting as "equivalent to international recognition."
The French source in Beirut told Le Figaro that Macron told Hezbollah: "We do not bore you on the question of your weapons and on two or three points that are important to you – but in return, you [must] put oxygen in the system. Agree to play the game, because we cannot continue like this."
Macron visited Beirut again on Tuesday and gave Lebanese politicians until the end of October to start delivering on reforms or else financial aid would be withheld – and sanctions would be imposed further down the line if there is proven corruption.
Reuters contributed to this report.