BEIRUT: The French foreign minister has submitted a new peace proposal in Beirut aimed at ending months of violence between Hezbollah and Israel.

Stephane Sejourne met officials in Beirut on Sunday, calling on the warring parties to abide by UN Resolution 1701.

After the talks, he said: “War exists even if not explicitly named. Civilians are paying the price, and no one is interested in the continuing escalation. This is the message I conveyed here, and this is the message I will convey on Tuesday to Israel.”

The minister discussed an amendment to a proposal Paris had presented to Lebanon for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.

UN Resolution 1701, which brought an end to the brutal Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006, is widely viewed as the most suitable framework for ending the latest conflict.

However, Hezbollah has persisted with linking its strikes on Israel to events in the Gaza Strip, while the Lebanese state has reminded Israel of its obligation to Resolution 1701 following repeated violations.

On Monday, reports said that a French technical team would bring the revised French initiative to Lebanese authorities within 48 hours. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was notified by Sejourne about the update.

The proposal will be delivered to Lebanon through diplomatic channels, said the French minister, who left Lebanon on Sunday night following his visit.

The revised version of the French initiative contains several pillars, including the cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli army under UN Resolution 1701.

It also calls for the safe return of Israelis to northern settlements and Lebanese citizens to border towns in the south.

Additionally, the initiative calls for deploying more Lebanese military forces across border areas and strengthening the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL.

The earlier version of the French peace plan, sent to Lebanon in mid-March, called for Hezbollah and its allies to retreat 10-12 km from the border. It also urged Israel to avoid “air violations.”

While in Beirut, Sejourne advised Berri to prioritize the election of a president before finalizing negotiations on the situation in the south.

Establishing a governing authority and ensuring presidential involvement in negotiations with Israel was “important,” he said.

Berri presented Sejourne with a map from the Scientific Research Institute that detailed the extensive damage and losses caused by Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon.

The map said that Israeli phosphorus bombings had affected “an area of 10 million sq meters.”

In addition, since the low-level conflict began last October, 1,000 housing units have been destroyed and thousands partially damaged.

Israeli operations have caused “significant harm to the environment and agriculture,” an infographic said.

After his talks in Lebanon, the French foreign minister said: “The crisis has lasted a long time. We are working to avoid Lebanon being ravaged by a regional war.

“We call on all parties to exercise restraint, and we reject the worst scenario in Lebanon, which is war.”

The UNIFIL operational region in Lebanon saw no activity on Sunday morning, after months of hostilies between Hezbollah and Israel in the area.

It coincided with Sejourne’s visit to UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, where he was briefed on the border situation by commander Gen. Aroldo Lazaro.

Sejourne also inspected the work of French peacekeepers serving with UNIFIL.

Meanwhile, Israeli military drones launched two missiles toward Aita Al-Shaab on Monday.

Other Israeli military drones raided Khiam, following a night of heavy shelling on Lebanese border villages, including Aita Al-Shaab, Kfarkila, Tayr Harfa, Naqoura and Jabal Blat.

Hezbollah said it targeted “a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Ruwaizat Al-Alam site with artillery shells.”

Residents in southern Lebanon have claimed that the Israeli army is deploying “a new type of heavy artillery.”

One resident told Arab News: “The whole region shakes and the ground trembles under our feet from the border until Nabatieh as if they were using seismic, thermobaric missiles.”

The morning Israeli strikes were a response to the interception of “over 30 missiles launched from southern Lebanon toward the Galilee panhandle and the upper Galilee,” according to Israeli media.

The Al-Qassam Brigades — the military wing of Hamas — said in a statement that its Lebanon branch had targeted the headquarters of Israel’s 769th Eastern Brigade.

The group launched a salvo of rockets from southern Lebanon, describing the attack as a response to “Israel’s massacres in Gaza and the West Bank.”

AL-MUKALLA: Missiles thought to have been fired by Houthi forces in Yemen targeted a commercial ship in the Red Sea on Monday as the US military destroyed a new barrage of Houthi drones. 

UK Maritime Trade Operations said that it received an alarm about an explosion in the proximity of a commercial ship 87 km northwest of Yemen’s western town of Al-Mokha, but that the ship and the crew were safe.

“Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to (us),” UKMTO said on X.

Ambrey, a UK maritime security service, identified the target ship as a Malta-flagged cargo vessel that was hit by three missiles while travelling from Djibouti to the Gulf.

The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for Monday’s strike, although they often only take credit several hours, sometimes even days, after an attack.

Since November, the Iran-backed Houthis have seized one commercial ship, sunk another, and launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles, and remotely operated and explosives-laden boats at commercial and navy vessels in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait.

The Yemeni militia claims that the assaults are aimed only against Israel-bound and Israel-linked ships to push Israel to allow humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip. 

In response to the Houthi’s ship campaign, the US formed a coalition of marine forces to protect critical maritime channels off Yemen and began strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

The US Central Command said that its forces on Sunday intercepted five drones launched by the Houthis over the Red Sea that were aimed at the US, its allies, and international commercial and naval ships.

“These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US coalition and merchant vessels,” CENTCOM said on X on Monday morning. 

At the same time, the Houthi-run Saba news agency reported that the group’s armed forces carried out more than 83 strikes on 103 ships affiliated with Israel and its allies, as well as shooting down three US military MQ-9 Reaper drones between November 19, 2023, and April 26, 2024. 

In a 39-page report on campaign against shipping in the Red Sea, the Houthis claimed that their strikes killed two American marines, two Filipinos, and one Vietnamese sailor while injuring four marines from the US-led marine task force.

During the campaign, the Houthis captured one ship, set fire to four, sunk two others, and damaged scores more, according to the report.

Despite a recent escalation in the number of strikes, since late last month the Houthis have drastically curtailed missile and drone attacks on ships.

The decrease in assaults has caused US military generals and analysts to surmise that the Houthis may have run out of weaponry and that the US-led air campaign reduced their military capabilities.