France is seeking a diplomatic road-map to end the war between the IDF and Hezbollah along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, as the US said that Gaza quiet was needed for diplomacy to work in that sphere.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of setting up a trilateral summit with the US and Israel, in an effort to secure a diplomatic solution amid escalating violence.
He spoke in Italy at a meeting of the G7, where leaders from those countries, including the US, Canada, Japan, Great Britain, and Germany, discussed global threats, among them the possibility of an all-out war in Israel’s north.
A draft communique that speaks about the Israeli-Lebanese crisis is due to be released following the G7 summit.
Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer are set to head to Washington next week to discuss Iran and its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas, according to media reports.
In Washington, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the cross-border IDF-Hezbollah violence “remains an extremely concerning situation that we’re trying to resolve.”
Ceasefire in the South means ceasefire in the North
A “ceasefire in Gaza would be the best way in our assessment to advance a meaningful resolution in the north,’ Miller said.
He explained that “it’s very difficult to achieve that diplomatic resolution while there is ongoing conflict in Gaza.”
The US had hoped it could achieve that necessary quiet along Israel’s southern border with a hostage deal, but Hamas’s refusal to accept a deal has made a diplomatic resolution difficult.
Reuters contributed to this report.