Aoun discusses French plan to demarcate Syria border, future security after planned UN pullout
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met Vincent Giroud, Chief of Staff of the French Presidency, in Beirut on Tuesday to discuss a French initiative to help demarcate the land border between Lebanon and Syria, according to a presidency statement.
The talks also covered the Israeli invasion and attacks in southern Lebanon and the future of international forces in the south amid a planned UN peacekeeping withdrawal at the beginning of next year. The statement said the French proposal would draw on maps and documents held by France from the mandate period, when Paris delineated the State of Greater Lebanon (1920) and Syria.
That legacy left overlapping borders and disputes that joint committees from both countries have not resolved. In mid-2025, Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry announced that Beirut had received from Paris copies of archival documents and maps related to the Syrian frontier, a step that could help advance land demarcation.
In the meeting, Aoun briefed his French guest on what he described as Israeli hostile practices, including blowing up and bulldozing homes and attacks on civilians, the statement added. He said the negotiation track he has adopted aims to end the suffering of residents of the south in particular and the Lebanese in general.
The discussions also addressed the phase following the withdrawal of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon from the country’s south at the beginning of next year. Aoun expressed Lebanon’s welcome of France’s willingness, along with other European countries, to maintain forces in the south to assist the Lebanese army in preserving security and stability.
Since March 2, Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 2,702 people and wounded 8,311, and displaced more than 1.6 million—about one-fifth of the population—according to the latest official figures. Israel occupies areas in southern Lebanon, some since decades and others since the 2023–2024 war, and has advanced about 10 kilometres inside the southern border during the current conflict.