- Title: 'Lebanon's fight is just', Macron says at Paris exhibition on country's culture
- Date: 23rd March 2026
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (MARCH 23, 2026) (AGENCY POOL) FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, WALKING ON STAGE FOR SPEECH ON SIDELINES OF EXHIBITION ON LEBANON AT ARAB WORLD INSTITUTE MACRON MACRON WALKING TOWARDS PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, SAYING: "Lebanon's fight today is just. It is to fight against all those who threaten its security or that of it
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: France Hezbollah Lebanon Paris conflict exhibition
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001666823032026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday (March 23) Lebanon’s fight against “all those who threaten its security or that of its neighbours” is a “just” effort as he visited an exhibition on the country’s culture in Paris.
Macron said "terrorist movements" could not be justified, and added: “Lebanon alone must manage its problems and that nothing can justify actions that violate its territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
“No occupation, no form of colonisation, neither here, nor in the West Bank, nor anywhere else, can guarantee the security of anyone,” Macron said during the speech.
Macron’s comments come after Lebanon was pulled into the regional war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired missiles into Israel. Since then, Israel has ordered all residents to leave the area south of the Litani River as it pummels the area with air strikes, viewing it as a Hezbollah stronghold.
On Monday, Israel's finance minister said Israel should extend its border with Lebanon up to the Litani River deep inside the country's south, as Israeli troops bombed bridges and destroyed homes in the area in an escalating military assault.
A Lebanese official told Reuters that Beirut was still counting on foreign powers to put enough pressure on Israel to put an end to the war, through an offer from President Joseph Aoun to hold direct talks.
Lebanese authorities say the Israeli air and ground assault has killed more than 1,000 people, and more than a million have been driven from their homes with Israel having ordered residents to flee swathes of the country.
The president was visiting an exhibition titled “Byblos, Lebanon’s millenium city,” which features more than 400 pieces relating to Lebanese culture and history, at Paris’ Arab World Institute.
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