Iranians are the biggest losers because war kills dissent, says Georges Malbrunot

This text corresponds to a transcription of part of the interview above. Click on the video to watch the full interview.

So today, we learned about the death of a second French soldier from Finul, succumbing to injuries during the same ambush in Lebanon that killed Adjutant Florian Montorio over the weekend. Emmanuel Macron paid tribute, of course, to the exemplary commitment of our troops within Finul, working for peace in Lebanon. Do you have any information tonight that clarifies the conditions of this ambush?

Georges Malbrunot: Apparently, according to a source within Finul, the French soldiers patrolling were trying to remove an improvised explosive device placed by Hezbollah on the roadside that was intended for Israeli soldiers who currently occupy southern Lebanon. So the French soldiers did their job, which was to remove the explosive device. In doing so, they found themselves facing Hezbollah fighters. It was at that moment that there was an exchange of fire. Apparently, a first French soldier was killed in that way, as the President of the Republic mentioned. There is all this information, obviously. The French soldiers were not targeted as French, but Finul, as a party that prevents both the Israelis and Hezbollah from acting, was targeted. And in fact, if my information is correct, after the Finul convoy left, other Hezbollah men came back to reinstall the improvised explosive device intended for Israeli soldiers.

Henri Verney: Can these incidents, even if the term may seem harsh due to the fact that there have already been several victims, several injuries, and deaths within Finul, call into question the presence of Finul in this area, especially considering that its mandate is supposed to end by the end of this year?

No, they will not call it into question. I had a Finul official tell me that, as it was said, it is very regrettable. It is obviously very regrettable, but it is part of the job, it is not the first time. You just mentioned that there were even two Indonesians killed by Israel. The soldiers of Finul are trapped. The Israeli army does not want to be left out of its actions and has, including against French soldiers, conducted quite unfriendly operations. And then there’s Hezbollah, which also doesn’t want to be left out.

Finul is responsible for verifying the disarmament of Hezbollah with the Lebanese army, and Hezbollah has not agreed to disarm. We are really in an extremely fragile position, but Finul will remain, it will stay until the end of the year. Yesterday, Emmanuel Macron informed us that there is a project, where France, Italy, and Spain, which are other important contributors, will continue to be there, not under the UN mandate but under another mandate, in order to support the Lebanese army which is somewhat deficient because it has not managed to disarm Hezbollah. I’m not sure it really wants to deploy itself north of that yellow line today, which is an Israeli-occupied zone. But north of that zone, which is about three kilometers wide, the Lebanese army could deploy, not to disarm Hezbollah, but to be present and alongside the population. Today, the Lebanese Prime Minister said that it is time to regain sovereignty over the whole of Lebanon. It’s time, he’s not doing it enough, and that’s a bit of a shame.

Alice Ruffault, the Minister Delegate to the Armed Forces, spoke this morning about France’s military presence within Finul and in that region

The mandate of Finul as it exists today will expire since the decision was made last summer. At the end of the year, we will remain engaged until the end of this mission and we are at the disposal of the Lebanese authorities to work on the framework that will follow. In the current situation, it is not necessarily the time to have these conversations because there are many things to address. But we are available to support the agenda of the Lebanese authorities, which involves ensuring the monopoly of weapons in Lebanon and obviously in southern Lebanon.

Find the full interview in the video above.