Published: April 24, 2026, 10:15 AM
Last updated: April 24, 2026, 10:20 AM
According to the honorary president of the Institute of Research and Studies on the Mediterranean-Middle East, the “semantic” used by Israel, which declares to “secure” South Lebanon, “is misleading”. “In reality, they completely put at risk tens and tens of thousands of Lebanese people,” he emphasizes in “La Matinale” on April 24.
Invited to “La Matinale” on Friday, April 24, Jean-Paul Chagnollaud, honorary president of the Institute of Research and Studies on the Mediterranean-Middle East (iReMMO), discusses the extension of the truce between Israel and Lebanon announced on Thursday. “An essential breathing moment,” which, according to him, does not compensate for Israel’s destruction in this area, which “weakens the ceasefire and peace issue.”
Brigitte Boucher: We learned this night from Donald Trump: the truce between Israel and Lebanon is extended by three weeks. It is the American president who announces it. Did he need to display a small victory?
I believe indeed that he needs something at the moment because he is in a complete deadlock. All his objectives, if indeed he had any, are not achieved, obviously. And so at least on Lebanon, he can try to do something, but it won’t solve anything. It is very important for the Lebanese people that there is this ceasefire. I have many ties to Beirut, and they experienced an absolutely terrible period. And when I say terrible, you have to try to understand what that means. It means that unfortunately they are used to war, to things like that. And people who are extremely resilient, told me that they were collapsed, that they were exhausted. So there was something particular the day after April 8, which is the day there were hundreds of bombing, there were 357 dead and hundreds and hundreds of wounded. In short, it was something terrible. So this moment is a breathing moment, an essential breathing moment, and it must be applauded in all respects.
What should one think of this truce, as it has been broken several times already, and even this week: a Lebanese journalist was killed in strikes?
L’Orient-Le Jour, besides, very clearly put on the front page: “It’s an assassination.” Because when you look at the details, the way in which this journalist died, there were three strikes. The first strike on the car, she escaped, a second and then a third, in the building where she had taken refuge. While UNIFIL had been warned, the Lebanese army had been warned. There was really a very precise knowledge. And so L’Orient-Le Jour, which is still an excellent newspaper, to say the least, headlines: “an assassination”, it is rather important and it means a lot of things. Now, the situation is on two levels. Obviously, there are actors who are ready to resume hostilities at any moment. So it is very fragile. But there is also something that needs to be emphasized and which is relatively new: it is the fact that the Israelis have decided to set up what they call a security zone in southern Lebanon.
This buffer zone, ultimately, between northern Israel and southern Lebanon.
But you know, the semantics are very misleading. What does it mean, security zone? It’s quite nice, we feel safe. In reality, they are completely endangering tens and tens of thousands of Lebanese people in southern Lebanon, since they have been forced to leave for several weeks now, and they are unable to return. Not simply because they are prevented from returning, but also because their homes are destroyed. For example, I have friends in Khiam, they have nothing left. Khiam has been practically destroyed. The city of Naqoura, where UNIFIL is located, is completely destroyed. The city of Bint-Jbeil, which has about 30,000 inhabitants, and was a bit of a Hezbollah stronghold, just a few kilometers from the border, is also destroyed. So we are in a policy of scorched earth. In addition, and this needs to be emphasized in one word, they are extending this scorched earth zone to the sea. That is, the official map of the Israeli army has modified the maritime border of 2022. And this poses a real problem, it really is the displayed intention to annex this area, or at least de facto. So the issue of the ceasefire and peace is already weakened by this type of initiative which, I repeat, when we say Southern Lebanon, if we had a map, we would see that Southern Lebanon goes quite far north because Khiam is quite far away.
