Macron and Aoun discuss efforts to back Lebanon’s army, end Israeli attacks

The French presidency said the aim of the Paris talks was to review a Lebanese armed forces deployment plan.

French President Emmanuel Macron, centre, Jordan's King Abdullah II, centre left, and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, centre right, open the 'Aqaba Process' meeting in support of the Lebanese Armed Forces at the Hotel des Invalides in Paris [Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool Photo via AP]

The leaders of France, Lebanon and Jordan convened in Paris to drum up international support for the Lebanese army.

Macron welcomed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and King Abdullah II of Jordan to Paris for the talks on Thursday.

list 1 of 4 Lebanon security talks in Paris to focus on post-UNIFIL alternatives

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list 4 of 4 US set to approve 60,000 heavy bombs for Israel: What that means

The meetings come after a US-mediated framework deal was agreed between Israel and Lebanon in June. But the agreement did not force Israel to withdraw from the large area of southern Lebanon it occupies, and Israel has continued its attacks on the country.

The agenda also included the creation of a new force to succeed a longstanding United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon.

The officials were later joined by chiefs of defence staff from Lebanon, Jordan, France, the United Kingdom and Italy, as well as top US and Saudi officials, a French military source told the AFP news agency.

Macron said that the talks aimed to “strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty and enable it to fully ensure its security”.

“A sovereign and stable Lebanon is a decisive step toward peace and stability for the entire region,” Macron wrote in a statement on X.

“We support the Lebanese Armed Forces, which are indispensable for asserting the authority of the Lebanese state across its entire territory,” he added.

The French presidency said the aim of the Paris talks was to review a Lebanese armed forces deployment plan based on a “clear, credible and realistic” framework.

Paris said it wanted this as a prerequisite for what it hopes will be “robust” international support, whether in the form of financial assistance, equipment or training.

Earlier in the day, Aoun and Macron also discussed “efforts to put an end to Israeli attacks in light of the Lebanese-American-Israeli negotiations and the ‘framework agreement’”, according to the Lebanese presidency.

Aoun also said the Lebanese army is the “main pillar for protecting Lebanon’s sovereignty”, stressing that strengthening state authority is a Lebanese choice rather than an externally imposed demand.

The Lebanese president expressed his “profound relief” at the progress of the talks, his office said in a statement on X, adding that he also expressed hope that the needs of the Lebanese army would be met by its allies.

Aoun reiterated his affirmation that only the state should have arms and praised the Lebanese army’s role in working towards the country’s stability.

The poorly equipped Lebanese forces have struggled to carry out their mission to disarm Hezbollah in the south.

Aoun has repeatedly stated his determination to disarm Hezbollah, but “without a confrontation”.

Post-UNIFIL alternatives

The talks also come as the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) ends this year after almost half a century of operations dating back to the Israeli invasion of 1978.

Last year, the UN Security Council, under US pressure, decided to end UNIFIL’s mandate on December 31, 2026.

France and Italy have said they want to set up a multinational coalition to succeed UNIFIL. The force has just fewer than 7,500 peacekeepers from 46 countries.

Aoun told the AFP this week that Lebanon wanted a new force, European or otherwise, to prevent a security vacuum after the UN peacekeepers leave south Lebanon.

Israel and the United States attacked Iran in February, setting off a war that has spread across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, with Israeli forces fighting Hezbollah.

Israel invaded southern Lebanon, and its forces continue to occupy what is a stretch of Lebanese territory about 10 kilometres (six miles) deep along the border.

In June, Israel and Lebanon signed a US-sponsored framework agreement that involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon’s south and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region.

Fears of a renewed Israeli military campaign, however, are growing in Lebanon after escalating attacks, despite the “ceasefire” agreed to in June.

法国总统府表示，巴黎会谈的目的是审查黎巴嫩武装部队部署计划。

法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙（中）、约旦国王阿卜杜拉二世（左二）和黎巴嫩总统约瑟夫·奥恩（右二）在巴黎荣军院为支持黎巴嫩武装部队的“亚喀巴进程”会议揭幕。[Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool Photo via AP]

法国、黎巴嫩和约旦的领导人在巴黎召开会议，争取国际社会对黎巴嫩军队的支持。

周四，马克龙在巴黎欢迎黎巴嫩总统约瑟夫·奥恩和约旦国王阿卜杜拉二世前来举行会谈。

巴黎黎巴嫩安全会谈将聚焦联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队撤军后的替代方案（共4项，此为第1项）

以色列轰炸黎巴嫩南部，谈判延期（共4条，此为第2条）

列表 3/4：以色列对黎巴嫩南部的破坏如何使流离失所成为永久性问题

美国拟批准向以色列提供6万枚重型炸弹（共4份清单中的第4份）：这意味着什么？

此次会晤是在美国斡旋下，以色列和黎巴嫩于6月达成框架协议之后举行的。但该协议并未迫使以色列从其占领的黎巴嫩南部大片地区撤军，以色列也继续对该国发动袭击。

议程还包括组建一支新部队，以接替联合国在黎巴嫩南部长期开展的维和行动。

据法新社报道，一位法国军方消息人士透露，随后黎巴嫩、约旦、法国、英国和意大利的国防参谋长以及美国和沙特阿拉伯的高级官员也加入了会议。

马克龙表示，会谈旨在“加强黎巴嫩的主权，使其能够充分保障自身安全”。

“一个主权稳定、繁荣昌盛的黎巴嫩，是整个地区走向和平与稳定的决定性一步，”马克龙在一份声明中写道。

“我们支持黎巴嫩武装部队，他们对于维护黎巴嫩国家在其整个领土上的权威至关重要，”他补充道。

法国总统府表示，巴黎会谈的目的是在“清晰、可信和现实”的框架下审查黎巴嫩武装部队部署计划。

巴黎方面表示，希望以此作为获得“强有力的”国际支持的先决条件，无论这种支持是以财政援助、设备还是培训的形式提供。

据黎巴嫩总统府称，当天早些时候，奥恩和马克龙还讨论了“根据黎巴嫩、美国和以色列之间的谈判以及‘框架协议’，努力制止以色列的袭击”。

奥恩还表示，黎巴嫩军队是“保护黎巴嫩主权的主要支柱”，并强调加强国家权威是黎巴嫩自己的选择，而不是外部强加的要求。

黎巴嫩总统办公室在一份声明中表示，总统对会谈取得进展表示“深感欣慰”，并补充说，他还希望黎巴嫩军队的需求能够得到其盟友的满足。

奥恩重申，只有国家才能拥有武器，并赞扬了黎巴嫩军队在维护国家稳定方面发挥的作用。

装备简陋的黎巴嫩军队在执行解除南部真主党武装的任务时举步维艰。

奥恩多次表示决心解除真主党的武装，但“不采取对抗手段”。

联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队撤离后的替代方案

此次会谈正值联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队（联黎部队）的任务期限于今年结束之际，该部队已开展了近半个世纪的行动，其历史可以追溯到1978年以色列入侵黎巴嫩时期。

去年，在美国的压力下，联合国安理会决定于 2026 年 12 月 31 日结束联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队的任务期限。

法国和意大利表示，他们希望组建一个多国联盟来接替联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队（联黎部队）。联黎部队由来自46个国家的近7500名维和人员组成。

奥恩本周告诉法新社，黎巴嫩希望组建一支新的部队，无论是欧洲的还是其他国家的，以防止联合国维和部队撤离黎巴嫩南部后出现安全真空。

今年2月，以色列和美国袭击了伊朗，引发了一场蔓延至整个中东地区的战争，包括黎巴嫩，以色列军队与真主党交战。

以色列入侵黎巴嫩南部，其军队继续占领着沿边境纵深约 10 公里（6 英里）的黎巴嫩领土。

6 月，以色列和黎巴嫩签署了一项由美国斡旋的框架协议，其中包括真主党解除武装、以色列军队逐步从黎巴嫩南部撤出以及黎巴嫩军队向该地区部署。

然而，尽管6月份达成了“停火”协议，但随着袭击事件的升级，黎巴嫩民众越来越担心以色列会再次发动军事行动。