Macron says France, US Israel working on ‘roadmap’ to defuse Hezbollah escalation

The United States, France and Israel have agreed to work together to step up efforts to push forward a roadmap presented by Paris earlier this year to defuse tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, French President Emmanuel Macron says.

France and the US have in recent months worked to try to defuse tensions with Paris submitting written proposals to both sides aimed at stopping worsening exchanges between them on the border between Lebanon and Israel.

“With the United States we agreed on the principle of a trilateral [contact group], Israel, the United States and France to advance on the roadmap that we proposed and we will do the same with the Lebanese authorities,” Macron tells reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.

A senior French official says there was an urgency for the US and France to step up their efforts given the dangerous escalation over the past few days, with intense cross-border fire escalating.