“The time has come for diplomacy,” Barrow said in Jerusalem, as the war in the Gaza Strip expands to… Lebanon.
The French minister, who made his statements after a meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Yisrael Katz, believed that the Lebanese Hezbollah “bears great responsibility” in terms of the expansion of the war in Lebanon.
He added: “In Lebanon, violence threatens to plunge a very fragile country into permanent chaos, which further threatens security IsraelHe pointed out that “Hezbollah bears great responsibility for this situation, after it dragged Lebanon into a war that it did not choose.”
According to Barrow, “This sad anniversary of October 7 is an opportunity to remind us that France is unwaveringly committed to Israel’s security. It has always been so, and it will always remain so, and these are not just words.”
He said that Paris “mobilized its military resources, in April as well as in October, to help Israel repel unacceptable ballistic attacks” from Iran.
According to the French minister, Paris “remained at the forefront of international efforts to prevent… Iran From possessing nuclear weapons, or to thwart its agenda aimed at destabilizing regional stability.”
Later, Barrow met with Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa in Ramallah, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, in the occupied West Bank.
The visit comes at a time of escalating tension between the two countries, after French President Emmanuel Macron angered Israel by asserting that “the priority today is to return to a political solution, and to stop handing over weapons to fight the battles in Gaza,” noting that France “does not hand over weapons.”
The Israeli Prime Minister responded by saying that it was “shameful” to call for a ban on arms shipments to his country.
