French President Macron tells Trump to ‘reinvest’ in Lebanon through Hezbollah

Macron wants Trump to funnel money to the terror group as a way to rebuild Lebanon.

By World Israel News Staff

French President Emmanuel Macron told President Donald Trump that U.S. sanctions against the Iranian proxy Hezbollah are “playing into the hands of those they are supposed to weaken, including Iran,” a government official told Reuters on Saturday.

JForum France, quoting the article, says the official said Macron told Trump in a Friday call that the U.S. should “reinvest” in Lebanon by way of Hezbollah.

The official spoke ahead of a donor conference co-hosted by France to bring aid to Lebanon after the devastating explosion that rocked Beirut last Tuesday.

Macron told Trump “that in the case of Lebanon, the point is that the pressure or abstention policy of the United States and certain Gulf countries could actually play the game of those they are targeting, Iran and Hezbollah,” the official said.

“So it was an invitation to President Trump to reinvest in the Lebanese question because the situation is serious and we must not abandon Lebanon to those that the United States is supposed to target through its policy of sanctions,” he said.

The U.S. has slapped stiff sanctions on the terror group. European countries have also cracked down on the organization. England in 2019 and Germany this year decided to no longer view the group’s political and military branches as separate and have banned all its activities in their countries.

Hezbollah, whose Arabic name translates into “Party of God,” was established by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard after Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982. It has conducted suicide and missile attacks against Israel and played a major part in Lebanon’s civil war.

AP contributed to this report.