France's plan seeks Hezbollah pullback, army deployment to Lebanon-Israel border

PARIS — The deployment of thousands of Lebanese soldiers to the south of the country near the border with Israel is key element in the French proposal for de-escalation in the region, a French diplomatic source confirmed to Al-Monitor on Thursday, noting that Paris is working closely with the Biden administration to avoid the outbreak of an all-out war between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

Tensions have increased considerably on the Israel-Lebanon border since Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7. An Israeli strike killed a Hezbollah commander, two fighters and seven civilians in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh, a security source told AFP on Thursday.

France has been leading efforts to de-escalate tensions and proposed a three-phased plan on Monday. 

"We believe that we should not wait for a new cease-fire in Gaza to be agreed upon to start working on de-escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah," said the diplomatic source, adding, "The idea is to work on that now. This way, when a cease-fire in Gaza is reached, there would already be discussed proposals for the Israel-Lebanon border on the table. The proposal currently put on the table sees a critical role for the Lebanese army. For this to work, the army would need to receive adequate budgets and to be able to function effectively."