Lebanese prime minister meets French military delegation in cease-fire oversight committee

By Wassim Seif El Din

BEIRUT (AA) – Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati met on Thursday with a French military delegation that is part of a cease-fire oversight committee with Israel.

During the meeting, Mikati stressed that Lebanon’s priority is to cease fire and Israeli violations of the deal, as well as Israeli army withdrawal from Lebanese territory and boosting the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south, reads a Cabinet statement.

The meeting was attended by Brigadier General Guillaume Ponchin, the head of the French military delegation, and French Ambassador Hervé Magro.

On Nov. 27, a cease-fire deal between Israel and Lebanon came into force in the hope of ending 14 months of fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah. It is, however, described as fragile, as over 130 Israeli violations were documented by Lebanon.

Under the terms of the cease-fire, Israel is to withdraw its forces south of the Blue Line de facto border in a phased manner while the Lebanese army deploys its forces in southern Lebanon within a maximum of 60 days.

Implementation of the agreement is to be overseen by the US and France, but details on enforcement mechanisms remain unclear.

Over 4,000 people have been killed and more than 16,500 injured in Israeli attacks in Lebanon and over 1 million others have been displaced since October 2023, according to Lebanese health authorities.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar