Above the smouldering skyline of Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh suburb, new forced evacuation orders from the Israeli military echo through rapidly emptying neighbourhoods.The Israeli warnings, accompanied by bombings of Beirut and other parts of southern Lebanon, contrast starkly with a French proposal for a diplomatic intervention aimed at pausing the latest Israeli war on its northern neighbour.But increasingly, say some analysts, that apparent dissonance between Israel’s actions and the prospect of talks to stop the fighting is in fact a reflection of a new ground reality that Israel is creating: occupying Lebanese territory to give itself greater leverage in any negotiations.Already, the human cost of Israel’s war is staggering. Lebanon has faced a sweeping Israeli offensive since March 2, which has killed about 850 people, including 107 children and 66 women, according to the Ministry of Public Health. More than one million people have been displaced within the country, forced into overcrowded shelters. The escalation followed Hezbollah’s targeting of Israeli military sites in response to a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran in late February, shattering whatever remained of the collapsed November 2024 ceasefire.Amid this humanitarian catastrophe, French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed hosting direct talks between Lebanon and Israel in Paris, warning that “everything must be done to prevent Lebanon [from] descending into chaos”. To support the diplomatic push, Paris announced the delivery of 60 tonnes of …
