While some view the announcement as a step aimed at supporting Lebanon in its efforts to provide reliable alternatives after UNIFIL, others interpret it as an attempt by Paris to reassure Israel more than Lebanese people. Through this complex equation, Paris may succeed gaining Tel Aviv's trust at the expense of losing a significant part of its ability to act as an accepted mediator among all parties. This could effectively strip it of the influence it has built over decades in Lebanon; based on the idea that it is the Western country most capable of communicating with the various Lebanese forces, including Hezbollah, albeit indirectly, while maintaining at the same time a strategic relationship with Israel and the United States.
