France shares more proposals with Israel over southern Lebanon

French officials shared on Tuesday proposals made to Lebanese authorities to defuse tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said as Paris attempts to work as an intermediary between the sides.

"A number of proposals that we made to the Lebanese side have been shared (with you)," Séjourné said ahead of a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz in Jerusalem.

"We have a relationship with Lebanon, 20,000 citizens there and the war in 2006 was particularly dramatic for them."
 
Séjourné was in Lebanon on Sunday where he met officials including politicians close to Hezbollah. French officials say they had seen progress in the responses from Lebanese authorities.

Séjourné said the basis of the proposals was to ensure UN resolution 1701 was implemented.


Reuters