00:00French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barreau has left Lebanon, is in Israel this Friday.
00:04His visit aimed at trying to secure ceasefire talks in Lebanon.
00:07France has offered to host negotiations.
00:10For more, let's cross to a correspondent in Jerusalem and speak to Noga Tarnopolsky.
00:14Hello to you, Noga.
00:16We heard from Jean-Noël Barreau earlier.
00:18Tell us a little bit about what he said.
00:21That's right.
00:23Jean-Noël Barreau is actually presenting a pretty nuanced French position.
00:28In other words, France continues to oppose the war in Iran, opposes U.S. and Israeli actions.
00:35In this respect, it believes the war is illegal.
00:38Nonetheless, it is not denying the impact of both Iran and Iran's local proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah.
00:47So Jean-Noël Barreau condemned Hezbollah and issued a very strong declaration of support for the Lebanese government.
00:58really emphasizing a kind of backbone that France is giving the Lebanese government,
01:04plus more than 20 or 23 million euros worth of aid that he committed to,
01:10some of which, as I understand, has already arrived in Lebanon.
01:13France is trying to remain relevant and important in this region, even as it opposes this war.
01:21So it is calling for a de-escalation of the war.
01:25It is supporting Israel's right to self-defense.
01:29And it continues to, Jean-Noël Barreau emphasized that France continues to offer its services
01:34as a mediator for something unprecedented,
01:38for direct talks between the Lebanese government and the Israeli government.
01:43something that has never occurred in the entire history of these two countries.
01:49Implicit in his remarks is that the Lebanese government has accepted this offer
01:54and that the Israeli government hasn't.
01:56He didn't say so directly, but that's what we understand.
01:59It's also what we understand from the comments made by his Israeli peer,
02:06Gidon Saar, the foreign minister of Israel, who issued a long tweet, a long statement
02:13about his meeting with Jean-Noël Barreau.
02:17The main thrust of which is that the government of Lebanon hasn't yet done enough
02:23to disarm Hezbollah, one of the conditions of the November 2024 ceasefire agreement
02:30on the border between Lebanon and Israel.
02:33Okay.
02:38How have Israeli officials been reacting to France's position throughout this war?
02:47I have to say that rather dismissively, the minister of culture,
02:51whose job obviously is irrelevant to diplomacy,
02:55but who is very close to the prime minister two days ago,
02:58basically said on the radio, no one listens to France.
03:02But the truth, I believe, is more complicated.
03:05Among other reasons, because the United States also does not want
03:09a major conflagration in Lebanon, even if it is not involved.
03:14So there does appear to be some international pressure on Israel,
03:18at least to pretend that it is engaged in some kind of discussions
03:23with the government of Lebanon.
03:26Obviously not with Hezbollah, an Iranian-supported terror group,
03:30but with the government of Lebanon.
03:32We know that Prime Minister Netanyahu has appointed a shadowy figure,
03:36his right-hand man, Ron Dermer, a former ambassador to the United States,
03:40who currently holds no official position.
03:43He's appointed him to handle these talks if they're taking place.
03:48We know he was in Saudi Arabia a few days ago to discuss the Lebanese question.
03:52And we also know that the United States does expect from Israel a certain limit to its actions in Lebanon.
04:04The United States does not want to see a bloodbath,
04:06exactly what the French foreign minister was just warning about.
04:11So it is a tightrope not only for Baruch, but also for Israel,
04:16that has to both assure its people, the Israeli people,
04:21certainly the residents of the north who are under a non-stop barrage of missiles by Hezbollah
04:27and from Iran in the last week,
04:30that it is doing everything in its power to push away Hezbollah,
04:34at the same time trying to assure the United States and European allies
04:40that it's not going to permit a massacre of Lebanese civilians
04:46or the complete destruction of Lebanese infrastructure.
04:50I want to point out one thing we saw yesterday.
04:52Israel announced that it had destroyed two bridges over the Litani River.
04:57This is something Israel has never before done.
05:00It has never before destroyed national infrastructure.
05:02The Israeli defense minister said this was to prevent Hezbollah
05:07from bringing reinforcements down south.
05:10But in reality, this was met with some opposition,
05:14even from right-wing figures in Israel,
05:17like Netanyahu's former national security advisor,
05:20retired General Yaakov Amidror.
05:22And these are just two bridges out of about 10 crossing the Litani.
05:28So it's unclear to what extent Israel is indicating symbolically
05:33that it could invade all of southern Lebanon
05:36or to what extent this is an unannounced,
05:39complete invasion of southern Lebanon.
05:42We're going to have to keep a close eye
05:43on what is happening in the next few days.
05:46and say hello to toe.
05:46Please.
05:46If you please.
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