French President Emmanuel Macron convenes a defense council on Tuesday, March 17 focusing on the situation in Iran and the Middle East. While Donald Trump requests French assistance in the Strait of Hormuz, Paris proposes to facilitate discussions between Lebanon and Israel to halt the escalation between the Israeli army and the Hezbollah movement.
On the 18th day of the war, French President Emmanuel Macron convened a new defense and national security council “on the situation in Iran and the Middle East,” the Elysée announced.
This new defense council bringing together ministers and officials responsible for security issues will take place on Tuesday afternoon and comes as Donald Trump pressures France to respond positively to his request for assistance in securing the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel praised France’s involvement in the negotiations
Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on European countries on Monday to “support any effort to eradicate” the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah, an ally of Iran.
He also welcomed the French offer to facilitate direct discussions between Lebanon and Israel, which has launched massive air strikes and “limited ground operations” against Hezbollah.
As a reminder, Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 to avenge the assassination of the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed two days earlier by an Israeli strike in Tehran.
The region under bombs
Emmanuel Macron called on Israel on Saturday to accept “direct discussions” with the Lebanese government and “all components” of Lebanon, which he said he was willing to “facilitate” by “hosting them in Paris,” in order to prevent “Lebanon from sinking into chaos.”
Israel continued its bombing on Tehran and against the pro-Iranian Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday morning.
Iran, on the other hand, launched new attacks towards Israel, showing that it still has the ability to launch long-range missiles despite extensive Israeli-American bombings.
Meanwhile, a new drone attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad overnight, while a tanker site was also hit in the United Arab Emirates.
It is worth noting that according to Lebanese authorities, nearly a million people have been displaced. The Israeli government warned that this forced displacement would not end until the security of Israeli citizens is ensured, hinting at an unprecedented occupation of Lebanon since 2006.
