French President Calls Israel's Attack On Lebanon A Regional War Invitation

French President Emmanuel Macron. (Doc. X/@EmmanuelMacron)

French President Emmanuel Macron warned Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu that Tel Aviv was pushing the region into a regional war.

This is reported by Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, reported by ANTARA, Saturday, September 21, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Netanyahu by telephone after an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon that killed 14 people.

The newspaper quoted Macron as saying to Netanyahu that "Israel is pushing the region into war."

Netanyahu told Macron that "than suppressing Israel, it is time for France to increase pressure on Hezbollah," according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

The newspaper also quoted a French official, without naming him, who said France believed that the latest developments in Lebanon were increasing the possibility of war.

Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least 14 people and injured 66 others on the outskirts of southern Beirut, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

The Israeli army claims to have targeted and killed Ibrahim Aqil, Hezbollah's top military commander.

On Tuesday (17/9) and Wednesday (18/9), a series of explosions in Lebanon involving wireless communications devices, including pagers or guaranteeers and two-way radio communications, killed at least 37 people.

The deadly attack comes amid rising cross-border wars with Israel since the start of the Tel Aviv war in the Gaza Strip.

Nearly 41,300 people, most of whom were women and children, were killed in Gaza as a result of Israeli attacks after a cross-attack by the Palestinian Hamas group on October 7, 2023.