US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin does not want to “impose a timetable” on Israel

In Beirut, the French foreign minister is expected to call for restraint and accountability during a meeting on Monday with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the de facto leader of the country without a president, and Nabih Berri, speaker of parliament. Hezbollah.

Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on October 7, pro-Iranian Hezbollah has opened a front in southern Lebanon to support its Palestinian allies, and Israel has retaliated with bombings. In Tel Aviv on Sunday, Catherine Colonna insisted that France was sending messages “Everyone has risks to prepare for”. “And if there is a fire (…) No one will benefit from it.”He recalls beginning in Lebanon, mired in political chaos and mired in economic stagnation.

During a joint press conference with M^me Colonna Sunday, the head of Israeli diplomacy, Eli Cohen, assured Israel “Don’t want to open a new front” on its northern border with Lebanon. “But we will do whatever it takes to protect our citizens.”He insisted, believing it was the only way to do it “To force Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River”Further from the border, consular channels or “by coercion”.

“I think France can play a positive and important role in avoiding a war in Lebanon”, Mr. Cohen continued. Paris, which, unlike other Western countries, maintains regular ties with Hezbollah, has said it is willing to take on this role in the face of perceived risk. “real” explosion.