Southern European leaders want Lebanon’s army to reassert itself in country’s south

The leaders of nine southern European Union countries pledge support for Lebanon’s armed forces to reassert control over the country’s southern territory in hopes of bringing peace to an area plagued by fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

In a joint declaration, the leaders of the so-called MED9 — Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia, Portugal and Croatia — say they will “continue advocating for further support to Lebanon and its people, including to the Lebanese Armed Forces which are called to play a critical stabilizing role.”

“The unfolding situation in the Middle East is gravely alarming,” the declaration says. “In light of the reverberations of the Gaza conflict on the wider region, we express our extreme concern with the escalation of the military confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah.”

French President Emmanuel Macron tells a news conference that the return of the Lebanese armed forces to South Lebanon and the restoration of Lebanese sovereignty “are essential to its peace and stability.”

Macron doesn’t specify what form that support would take, but says an October 24 conference in the French capital will aim to ramp up aid deliveries to Lebanon as humanitarian crisis looms while helping to bolster the country’s military and internal security forces.

Ahead of that conference, Macron and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni say a meeting of G7 defense ministers will also look at ways of assisting Lebanon’s army to move into the south.