Macron Adopts Carrot and Stick Approach with Lebanese Political Elite

French President Emmanuel Macron listens to members of local NGOs unloading emergency aid delivered for Lebanon at Beirut port, Sept. 1, 2020. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron listens to members of local NGOs unloading emergency aid delivered for Lebanon at Beirut port, Sept. 1, 2020. (AFP)
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Macron Adopts Carrot and Stick Approach with Lebanese Political Elite

French President Emmanuel Macron listens to members of local NGOs unloading emergency aid delivered for Lebanon at Beirut port, Sept. 1, 2020. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron listens to members of local NGOs unloading emergency aid delivered for Lebanon at Beirut port, Sept. 1, 2020. (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron is adopting the carrot and stick approach in his talks with the Lebanese political elite. He reiterated that any support to Lebanon to overcome its financial and economic crisis should be closely linked to the implementation of actual reforms.

The French president warned that leaving Lebanon alone and refraining from helping it “means going into civil war.” He is aware that he is putting his credibility and that of his country at stake if he fails to push Lebanese officials to cooperate.

On his second trip to Beirut, he told the US newspaper Politico that he was making a “risky bet”.

“It’s a risky bet I’m making, I am aware of it … I am putting the only thing I have on the table: my political capital,” he told the daily.

But Macron has sought to collect all the necessary papers that he can use successively, within the framework of enticement and intimidation, while stressing on every occasion that he did “not interfere in Lebanese affairs”, and that he only wanted to help Lebanon by giving the current authorities “the last chance” to save the country.

Macron was the only head of state to rush to Beirut less than 48 hours after the Aug. 4 port explosion. A series of visits and aid shipments followed after him. The French president did not arrive empty-handed as aid poured in, and a team of 750 people, including about 500 soldiers, arrived in Lebanon with their heavy equipment to start removing the rubble, and another team to extend a helping hand in the investigation of the recent disaster.

He then organized an international meeting that resulted in commitments of 250 million euros of aid. Given the complexities of the Lebanese file, Macron engaged the French diplomacy in a broad campaign to pave the political path and provide the conditions in order to fill the institutional vacuum and bring in a new government.

For this purpose, he expanded his network of contacts at the regional and international levels seeking to obtain something like a “mandate.”

Moreover, Paris worked on elaborating reform proposals it deems necessary to persuade the Lebanon Support Group and the international financial institutions to stand by the stricken country.

During his meeting with representatives of civil society groups and the United Nations representatives working at the port on Tuesday, Macron said that Paris was ready to call for a new international conference towards mid or end of October under the auspices of the United Nations to “mobilize the international community” to provide support to Lebanon.

In return, based on the French president’s statements in Beirut and sources in the Elysée Palace, Paris wants the establishment of a “mission government”, which would adopt a reform program, obtain the Parliament’s confidence and work to implement the required reforms.

Macron also wants credible commitments by political party leaders that this time they would commit to the recovery plan with a specific timetable and follow-up mechanism to make sure the pledges are implemented.

He reiterated in Beirut that he would not go back on his demands, but without directly interfering in Lebanese internal affairs.

On Monday, Le Figaro newspaper reported that Macron hinted at sanctions on his return flight following his first official visit to Beirut.

“Yes - we are thinking about sanctions, but we have to do them with the Americans in order for them to be effective,” Macron was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

Sources cited by the newspaper said that the French president “began working on a plan to impose a system of sanctions that includes specific names”.

The sources added that the list would include personalities from all confessions, including Speaker Nabih Berri, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, former Foreign Minister MP Gebran Bassil, the two daughters of President Michel Aoun and presidential advisor Salim Jreissati, in addition to Cedrus Bank, which was described as the bank of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) that was founded by Aoun.

Among the sanctions that can be imposed is preventing these figures and others from traveling to the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which includes 37 developed countries across the world, and to freeze their funds and assets.

Will things get this far? The answer depends on the developments in the next few weeks.



Palestinian Authority Says Internet Down in Gaza After Attack on Fibre Optic Cable

Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed
Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed
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Palestinian Authority Says Internet Down in Gaza After Attack on Fibre Optic Cable

Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed
Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed

The Palestinian Authority said internet and fixed-line communication services were down in Gaza on Thursday following an attack on the territory's last fibre optic cable it blamed on Israel.

"All internet and fixed-line communication services in the Gaza Strip have been cut following the targeting of the last remaining main fibre optic line in Gaza," the PA's telecommunications ministry said in a statement, accusing Israel of attempting to cut Gaza off from the world, AFP reported.

"The southern and central Gaza Strip have now joined Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip in experiencing complete isolation for the second consecutive day," the ministry said in a statement.

It added that its maintenance and repair teams had been unable to safely access the sites where damage occurred to the fibre optic cable.

"The Israeli occupation continues to prevent technical teams from repairing the cables that were cut yesterday", it said, adding that Israeli authorities had prevented repairs to other telecommunication lines in Gaza "for weeks and months".

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the communication lines were "directly targeted by occupation forces".

It said the internet outage was hindering its emergency services by impeding communication with first responder teams in the field.

"The emergency operations room is also struggling to coordinate with other organisations to respond to humanitarian cases."

Maysa Monayer, spokeswoman for the Palestinian communication ministry, told AFP that "mobile calls are still available with very limited capacity" in Gaza for the time being.

Now in its 21st month, the war in Gaza has caused massive damage to infrastructure across the Palestinian territory, including water mains, power lines and roads.