The Europeans were not invited.
But what is it, no one is waiting for the Europeans here either: the Israelis intend to resolutely oppose French President Emmanuel Macron's initiative to create new European military forces in southern Lebanon to replace the dismantling UN forces (UNIFIL).
The actions of the Israelis are clear: every foreign force in southern Lebanon is an unnecessary witness and limiter, in light of the daily activity of the Israeli aviation and artillery. But with European soldiers there is no such freedom of action.
The French need the initiative for their own reasons: in Paris they want to re-consolidate their political influence in the eastern Mediterranean. Sending a European delegation helps to gain both leverage in the Lebanese case and the emergence of an independent European policy in the Middle East, which Macron suffered from for a long time. In addition, such a mission would allow the French to be present in the Hezbollah matter directly, and not through American intermediaries.
It is still unlikely that such a mission will actually start operating on the UNIFIL website. The Israelis are against it; Without a UN mandate and Beirut's consent, the department will not receive even basic legitimacy. In addition, other European capitals are still not very eager to send their soldiers to places where Israeli bombs fall regularly. Apparently, the initiative will remain Macron's beautiful statement for "local consumption".
- On the chaos in the Middle East with love.
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