French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian holds high-level talks in Beirut
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French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian met Lebanon’s president, speaker, and prime minister in Beirut.
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Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, right, meets with French special envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian, center, and French Ambassador to Lebanon Herve Magro, left, at the presidential palace in Baabda, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
As mass “Block Everything” protests roil France, presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian touched down in Beirut on Thursday for high-level meetings with Lebanon’s top leaders, including the heads of state, parliament, and government.
Le Drian began his visit in Beirut with a meeting with President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda. He then headed to Ain al-Tineh for talks with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, leaving without making a statement.
The French envoy later proceeded to the Grand Serail in central Beirut for a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
Le Drian, who previously served as France’s foreign minister, was appointed on June 7, 2023, as a special envoy to Lebanon by President Emmanuel Macron.
He had already visited Lebanon earlier this year, attending, along with a group of Lebanese diplomats, the parliamentary session that elected General Joseph Aoun as president. He later returned in June for another round of talks with Lebanese political leaders.
Le Drian's visit comes as the Israeli occupation continues to disregard the ceasefire declared in November 2024. Since then, Israeli violations have killed at least 264 people and wounded more than 540 across Lebanon, with strikes expanding from the south to the east.
Israeli drone strike kills civilian in southern Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported Thursday morning that one person was martyred in an Israeli occupation airstrike on southern Lebanon. Initial reports indicate that an Israeli drone deliberately targeted a motorcycle traveling on the road between Aytit and Ain Baal, setting the vehicle ablaze and killing its driver instantly.
The occupation continues to disregard the ceasefire declared in November 2024. Since then, Israeli violations have reportedly killed 264 people and wounded more than 540 across Lebanon, with strikes expanding from the south to the east.
On Monday, the Emergency Health Operations Center of Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health announced that Israeli occupation airstrikes on the Bekaa and Hermel highlands, eastern and northeastern Lebanon, left five people martyred and five others wounded.
These latest violations follow a series of Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon. On September 3, warplanes struck the Zahrani coastal area, killing four and injuring 17, including four children. The strikes hit an industrial hangar used for repairing bulldozers on the Deir Taqla farm, between the towns of Ansariyeh and Adloun.
Meanwhile, UN peacekeepers have also come under fire. On September 2, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) revealed that four grenades were dropped by Israeli drones near a group of personnel clearing roadblocks to access a UN position. The mission described it as “one of the most serious attacks on UNIFIL personnel and assets since the cessation of hostilities agreement of last November.”
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