Paris Denies Reports on Israeli Strike, Macron Visit, Army Aid

France on Tuesday denied media reports claiming that it has “asked Israel not to strike Lebanon,” that it has decided to “halt aid to the Lebanese Army” and that President Emmanuel Macron “will cancel his visit to Lebanon.”

“These reports are baseless,” French foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said when asked about the reports.

“France gives special attention to the situation in Lebanon and it hopes a government will be formed as soon as possible, seeing as this is necessary in order to guarantee Lebanon's sovereignty, security and stability amid the dire regional developments,” she added.

Paris calls on Lebanese authorities and international partners to “abide by the commitments that were pledged at the CEDRE economic conference and the Rome II conference and to fully implement them,” the spokeswoman went on to say.

She also stressed that France “will continue to abide by its commitments and its support for the Lebanese Army and Internal Security Forces while calling for full adherence to Security Council resolutions.”

Von der Muhll also said her country “lauds the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon's commitment to preserving calm along the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel.”

Israel's Maariv newspaper had quoted French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian as saying that he and several French officials had asked Israeli President Reuven Rivlin during his visit to Paris to refrain from “any military action against Lebanon before the formation of the government.”

It also quoted Le Drian as saying that “France has halted military supplies to the Lebanese Army and the French president has canceled his visit to Lebanon scheduled for next month due to the complete rejection of Iran-backed Hizbullah's military activities.”

The alleged remarks were translated and reported by several Lebanese and Arab newspapers.