French President Emmanuel Macron met Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Paris on April 21, 2026, as the ceasefire with Israel remains fragile and a French peacekeeper was killed the day before in a Hezbollah ambush. Macron reaffirmed his commitment to the ceasefire and support for Lebanon’s territorial integrity. He aims to regain initiative after being sidelined from recent direct Israel-Lebanon talks.
Emmanuel Macron met Nawaf Salam in Paris amid tensions from a fragile ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel. The day before, a French peacekeeper was killed in a Hezbollah ambush in Ghandouriyé, a border locality, while three other UNIFIL troops were seriously injured.
The French president expressed his “attachment to the ceasefire” and support for “Lebanon’s territorial integrity,” as Israel has not renounced its “buffer zone” in the country’s south. Macron stated that Israel must “renounce its territorial aims” in Lebanon, adding that the pro-Iranian Hezbollah must “cease” its strikes on Israel and be disarmed “by the Lebanese themselves.”
The meeting follows the first direct Israel-Lebanon talks since 1993, held a week ago in Washington, with another round scheduled for Thursday. France had been sidelined from these U.S.-brokered discussions.
