In Crisis-Hit Lebanon, Paris and Washington at Odds over Hezbollah

When it comes to Lebanon, the US and France have similar outlooks, but one major point of difference involves the Hezbollah movement -- shunned by Washington but tolerated by a pragmatic Parisian leadership.

While the United States seeks to isolate and curb the influence of the Iran-backed group it has designated a "terrorist" organization and punished with sanctions, France recognizes it as a key political actor whose cooperation is needed to lift Lebanon out of crisis.

Lebanon's government stepped down last month amid popular anger over a massive blast at Beirut's port on August 4 that killed 191 people, wounded thousands and ravaged large parts of the capital.

Both Western powers have agreed Lebanon needs a cabinet different from its predecessors to tackle urgent reforms, but all consensus seems to end there.

"France's approach tends to be more realistic," analyst Karim Bitar told AFP.

"France views Lebanon as it is, while the (US President Donald) Trump administration tends to view Lebanon as it would like it to be."

The US view is that Hezbollah -- the only group not to have disarmed after the 1975-1990 civil war -- holds excessive influence in Lebanon, "which needs to be contained", Bitar said.

But Paris recognizes "Hezbollah in Lebanon is a major political actor, that it has a wide captive constituency in Lebanon's Shiite community, that it is here to stay," he added.

Two facets of Hezbollah
The United States has been following closely as French President Emmanuel Macron twice visited Lebanon since August 4 to press for political change and reforms to unlock financial aid.

During his last trip, the French leader differentiated between two facets of Hezbollah -- one "terrorist", and the other, a political party "elected by the people" to parliament and allied with the Lebanese president's party that could not be excluded from talks.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has been notably positive about Macron's visits, not labelling them as "foreign interference" as he might have done for such a move by the US.

The party’s parliamentary bloc leader, Mohammad Raad, was among lawmakers who met Macron before he said all sides had agreed to form a new government within a fortnight.

France, which has outlined a roadmap for reforms for the next government, "wants to maintain a channel of dialogue with Hezbollah in order to prevent the destabilization of Lebanon", Bitar said.

Paris views itself as "an honest broker" to do this in a time when tensions are at a peak between Washington and Tehran.

Observers say France is one of the only Western powers to have maintained direct contact with Hezbollah, pointing to the role of the current French ambassador, who formerly held the same post in Tehran.

"There has always been direct contact between Paris and Hezbollah," an Arab diplomat in Beirut told AFP.

And as Washington is caught up in preparing for the US presidential polls, it appears to be giving France some leeway on Lebanon.

"The Americans have set as a condition that Hezbollah not take part in the (next) government, but they could turn a blind eye to them remaining if there were a deal and reforms," the diplomat said.

Hezbollah 'cannot be trusted'
US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker, also visiting Lebanon last week, told Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar that the US appreciated the French initiative, but differed on a few details, including that Hezbollah was not a legitimate political organization but a "terrorist" group.

He did not meet with key political figures, instead seeing army chief Joseph Aoun, lawmakers who resigned after the port blast, civil society activists and Shiite figures opposed to Hezbollah.

One such Shiite figure told AFP that Schenker said during their meeting that Hezbollah "cannot be trusted" to lead reforms.

"Hezbollah has been given ample opportunity since 2005 to really involve itself in the state and has not changed its behavior," the source reported Schenker as saying.

The United States has demanded Hezbollah lay down its weapons, but also echoed the call of a political minority in Lebanon that the country be "neutral", meaning that it break ties with Iran and distance itself from the region's conflicts.

Most Lebanese political sides, however, have accepted that the party is a military force to contend with and a political actor present in all branches of state, which, with its allies, currently dominates parliament.

Responding to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling for Hezbollah's weapons to be dealt with as a priority, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt in a televised interview last week responded that the solution would come through politics.

"Let Pompeo forget the rockets for now. That matter will be solved through politics when the time is right," he said.

With food scarce in the besieged and war-battered Gaza Strip, some desperate families have turned to eating sea turtles as a rare source of protein.

Once the shell has been removed, the meat is cut up, boiled and cooked in a mix of onion, pepper, tomato and spices.

"The children were afraid of the turtle, and we told them it tasted as delicious as veal," said Majida Qanan, keeping an eye on the chunks of red meat simmering in a pot over a wood fire.

"Some of them ate it, but others refused."

For lack of a better alternative, this is the third time 61-year-old Qanan has prepared a turtle-based meal for her family who were displaced and now live in a tent in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza largest city.

After 18 months of devastating war and an Israeli blockade on aid since March 2, the United Nations has warned of a dire humanitarian situation for the 2.4 million inhabitants of the Palestinian territory.

Israel has accused Hamas of diverting aid, which the Palestinian militant group denies.

The heads of 12 major aid organizations warned on Thursday that "famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts" of the territory, AFP reported.

"There are no open crossings and there is nothing in the market," said Qanan.

"When I buy two small bags (of vegetables) for 80 shekels ($22), there is no meat," she added.

Sea turtles are internationally protected as an endangered species, but those caught in Gaza fishermen's nets are used for food.

Qanan mixes the meat with flour and vinegar to wash it, before rinsing and boiling it in an old metal pot.

- 'Never expected to eat a turtle' -

"We never expected to eat a turtle," fisherman Abdel Halim Qanan said.

"When the war started, there was a food shortage. There is no food. So (turtle meat) is an alternative for other sources of protein. There is no meat, poultry or vegetables."

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned that Gaza is facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began on October 7, 2023.

Fighting has raged in Gaza since then, pausing only twice -- recently during a two-month ceasefire between January 19 and March 17, and in a previous one-week halt in late November 2023.

The World Health Organization's regional chief Hanan Balkhy said in June that some Gazans were so desperate that they were eating animal food, grass, and drinking sewage water.

Hamas on Thursday accused Israel of using "starvation as a weapon" against Gazans by blocking aid supplies.

"If there was no famine, we would not eat it and leave it, but we want to compensate for the lack of protein," he said.

In Crisis-Hit Lebanon, Paris and Washington at Odds over Hezbollah