French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that arms deliveries to Israel should be stopped amid growing tensions in Gaza and Lebanon. “We want to stop the militaristic adventures and return to a political solution,” Macron said in an interview with France Inter on Saturday. The president fears that increased deliveries of arms would merely intensify the already awful conflict, which involved heavy bombardments in Gaza as well as military actions in Lebanon.
During the interview, Macron revealed that France is not selling armaments to Israel currently. The country may not be one of the primary arms dealers to Israel; however, France remains an important power in the European Union and is still a member of the United Nations Security Council, strengthening its diplomatic stance. Macron urged an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, citing the fact that further military actions could exacerbate divisions and feed even more hatred in the region.
“I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza,” Macron said. He repeated the importance of France’s priority concerning dialogue instead of fueling military escalations not only for Israel’s security but also for the broader stability of the Middle East.
Macron also warned of a risk of an escalation in the region, particularly in Lebanon. He raised his concern about Israel’s recent military operations in southern Lebanon, which he said this place might turn out to be just like Gaza, where the conflict will spill over.
Macron said, “Lebanon must not become a new Gaza,” and threw down the gauntlet to both Israel and Lebanon to stop transforming the country into a battleground. He emphasized that it is not supposed that casualties be the people of Lebanon amidst the conflict being held between the state of Israel and armed groups operating in the region, which comprises Hezbollah.
Macron’s comments ignited stinging reactions from both sides of the conflict. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave him a sharp tongue-lashing, defining his remarks as “a shame.” Netanyahu told Netanyahu that Israel’s military operations are not to defend against what he said was “Iranian barbarism” but to protect the country against a threat of “Iran-led barbarism.” He expressed frustration with Western leaders, including Macron, demanding arms embargoes against Israel at the very time when a security threat looms over it in the form of militant groups.
Shame on them,” Netanyahu said, turning towards Macron and other Western leaders who support similar positions. He explained the necessity for Israel to maintain the conflict with military actions to survive and needed its allies to stand by them on this end.
However, several international actors received Macron’s call to stop the arms supplies with applause. Jordan and Qatar both commend the French president’s stance by urging a total ban on exporting arms to the Israelis. A Qatari official who had participated in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Gaza described Macron’s position as “an important and appreciated step toward stopping the war.”
Macron’s call for an arms embargo on Iran comes at a time when France is seeking a more prominent role in Middle Eastern diplomacy. The French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, began his four-day diplomatic mission to the region on Monday and was scheduled to meet with Israeli leadership. Macron’s call for an arms embargo on Iran is, in this respect, a signal not only to Israel but also to the United States, which remains Israel’s largest arms provider.
In May, the US State Department reported that it had yet to accumulate enough evidence to act to stop the smuggling of arms to Israel but it was “reasonable to assess” that Israel may have used American-supplied weapons in ways violative of international humanitarian law. Increasing international scrutiny of arms deliveries to Israel could inform future diplomatic efforts to end the war.
Macron’s call for an arms embargo reflects the international concern that continuing with this military escalation will only make a peaceful end impossible. As Gaza remains bombarded by heavy attacks and tensions still build up in Lebanon, what Macron underscores is a call to move away from military solutions to diplomatic engagement.
As tensions persist, comments from the French president have breathed new life into discussion over a ceasefire. Whether such will be enough to bring real progress into view remains to be seen, but there is little question that Macron’s voice– along with that of other world leaders– is again ringing for the halt of violence in the interests of political dialogue.
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