Le Drian Meets Lebanese Leaders, Tries Break Govt Deadlock

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian walks after a meeting with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon May 6, 2021. (Reuters)
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian walks after a meeting with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon May 6, 2021. (Reuters)
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Le Drian Meets Lebanese Leaders, Tries Break Govt Deadlock

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian walks after a meeting with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon May 6, 2021. (Reuters)
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian walks after a meeting with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon May 6, 2021. (Reuters)

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian met Lebanese leaders on Thursday to try to break the deadlock in months of talks on forming a government to pull Lebanon out of economic crisis.

Le Drian met President Michel Aoun and influential Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Both are allies of Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and is a close ally of Syria.

He has also asked to meet Gebran Bassil, the head of Lebanon’s biggest Christian parliamentary bloc and Aoun’s son-in-law, who was hit with US sanctions last year for alleged corruption and his ties to Hezbollah.

Officials had declined to confirm a meeting with Saad al-Hariri, a three-time premier who was designated to form a new government in October but has been locked in a stand-off with Aoun over the line-up, according to Reuters.

Two diplomats said Le Drian wanted to send a clear message that Paris supports the Lebanese people, but that it had had enough of the political class that had failed to meet its commitments.

"He came to Beirut to give Lebanese officials a strongly worded message, to tell them 'Lebanon is sinking and you are the ones sinking it even more...And if you don't help yourselves, nobody can help you'," a senior Lebanese political source said.

Paris said last month it was taking measures to restrict entry to France for Lebanese officials accused of blocking efforts to resolve the crisis, which has crashed the currency, paralyzed the banking sector and increased poverty.

Before flying to Beirut, Le Drian warned of punitive measures against those who were hindering progress.

“It is only the beginning,” he tweeted.



Israeli Military Says it Struck 'Key' Hamas Figure in Lebanon's Tripoli

People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
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Israeli Military Says it Struck 'Key' Hamas Figure in Lebanon's Tripoli

People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had struck "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas near the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, the first targeted killing in the area for several months.

In a statement, Israel's military did not give the identity of the targeted person. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Lebanese state media said a car had been hit near Tripoli and the health ministry reported two people were killed and three others wounded, without identifying them, Reuters reported.

Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups maintain a presence in various areas of Lebanon, mostly in camps that have housed displaced Palestinians for decades.

Since Hamas' cross-border attack from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel in 2023, Israel has carried out targeted strikes on Lebanese armed group Hezbollah as well as members of Palestinian factions in Lebanon.

Hamas' deputy chief was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs in early 2024, and other strikes hit Palestinian camps in northern Lebanon.

A US-brokered ceasefire last year ended the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, though Israel has continued to carry out strikes on what it says are Hezbollah arms depots and fighters, mostly in southern Lebanon.

Tuesday's strike near Tripoli was the first time a targeted assassination had taken place in the area since the truce.

Meanwhile, US envoy Thomas Barrack continued a two-day visit to Lebanon to discuss disarming Hezbollah and other militant groups.