PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron said there had been no activity justifying Israel’s strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon on Friday and that he would call U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the attacks.
Israel’s air force bombed a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs, its first substantive strike on the Lebanese capital since a November ceasefire, brokered by France and the U.S., that ended a war between Israel and Hezbollah.
“The framework agreed upon by Lebanon and Israel was not respected today by Israel, unilaterally, and without us having either information or proof of the triggering event,” Macron said.
Macron held a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Paris to discuss economic reforms and efforts to stabilise Lebanon.
The French president said he would call Trump “in the coming hours” and Netanyahu in the “next 48 hours” aiming to “return to a full and complete observance of the ceasefire”.
The November truce required Hezbollah to remove weapons from southern Lebanon, Israeli forces to withdraw, and Lebanon to deploy its national army in the region.
Since then, mutual accusations of violating the truce have been exchanged among Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel.
(Reporting by John Irish and Gianluca Lo Nostro; Editing by Dominique Vidalon and Kevin Liffey)
Comments