By Talya Minsberg
French President Emmanuel Macron called for an “immediate and lasting” cease-fire in Lebanon and said countries should stop shipping weapons to Israel for use in the Gaza Strip, adding to international pressure on Israel to do more to protect civilians and work toward an end to fighting in the region.
“The priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering arms for fighting in Gaza,” Macron said on the French radio show “Etcetera” during an episode that was recorded this past week and that aired Saturday. France is not currently delivering any weapons to Israel, he said.
“I think we are not being heard,” he said of calls for a cease-fire, “and I consider it a mistake, also for Israel’s security.”
Later Saturday, at a summit of French-speaking countries, Macron announced that 88 Francophone countries voted unanimously to call for a cease-fire in Lebanon as part of a commitment to deescalate tensions in the region. The United States, Egypt, Qatar and other countries have spent months trying to cobble together a cease-fire in Gaza, but they haven’t been able to get Hamas and Israel to agree.
A U.S.- and French-led effort to establish a temporary cease-fire in Lebanon stalled as well.
In a statement late Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed France’s call to stop selling Israel weapons for the Israel-Hamas war.
“Shame on them,” he said, pointing to both France and other Western nations who have called for arms embargoes against Israel. “Let me tell you this: Israel will win with or without their support.”
In response to Netanyahu’s statement, the French president’s office issued a statement late Saturday reiterating France’s support for Israel.
“An immediate cease-fire is necessary in both Gaza and Lebanon to halt the escalation of violence, free the hostages, protect the population and find the political solutions necessary for the security of Israel and everyone else in the Middle East,” the statement read, adding, “France is Israel’s unwavering friend. Mr. Netanyahu’s words are excessive and unrelated to the friendship between France and Israel.”
Israel this past week launched a ground operation into Lebanon that targeted Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group. Hezbollah began firing on northern Israel on Oct. 8 in solidarity with its ally Hamas in Gaza. After a year of tit-for-tat rocket-fire exchanges, the fighting has expanded far beyond the Israeli-Lebanese border as Israel targets Hezbollah’s military infrastructure and many of its top commanders. Hezbollah fired an estimated 130 rockets into Israel on Saturday, the Israeli military said.
Israel has come under increasing international pressure to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza and Lebanon. The United States in May suspended the export of U.S.-made 2,000-pound bombs to Israel to prevent the U.S.-made weapons from being used in a long-threatened assault on the city of Rafah. Officials said that they were not needed by the Israelis and that their use could lead to wide civilian casualties. Those concerns have continued as Israel has ramped up attacks on Lebanon.
At the International Francophone Organization summit in Paris, Macron said France will host an international conference this month to provide humanitarian aid for Lebanon, where hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.
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