The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Israeli ambassador to Paris this Friday (11), following the new attack suffered by the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon (Unifil), which the French government firmly condemned.
“These attacks constitute serious violations of international law and must cease immediately,” said a French diplomatic spokesman, who will seek explanations from Israel through the ambassador.
The spokesperson considered the Israeli attacks against Unifil as “deliberate” and recalled that two blue helmets were injured, one of them in critical condition, in a still provisional assessment.
“The Israeli authorities must provide explanations. France is therefore recalling the Israeli ambassador to France to the Ministry today,” the spokesperson added.
“France remembers that the protection of blue helmets is everyone’s obligation. Each party must respect this obligation and allow Unifil to continue to fulfill its mandate, which includes respecting its freedom of movement”, emphasized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson.
Earlier, Unifil had reported that two peacekeepers were injured “after two explosions that occurred near an observation tower” and attributed responsibility to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The IDF reported in X this Friday that soldiers “operating in southern Lebanon have identified an immediate threat against them.”
“The soldiers responded with fire against the threat. An initial analysis indicates that during the incident, a shot was identified at a Unifil station, located approximately 50 meters from the source of the threat, resulting in injuries to two Unifil employees. Hours before the incident, the IDF instructed Unifil personnel to enter protected spaces and remain there. This instruction was in force at the time of the incident,” Israeli forces reported.
On Thursday (10), the IDF had accused the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah of operating near Unifil force posts and acknowledged having fired shots near another mission base in Naqoura, where two Indonesian soldiers from the mission were slightly injured.
“Our troops operated in the Naqoura region, close to a Unifil base. We instructed UN forces to remain in protected locations, and then the forces opened fire,” the IDF said in a statement.
The rift between the government of French President Emmanuel Macron and that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes at a time when Paris is questioning Israel’s offensive in Lebanon and threatening to impose an embargo on arms supplies.
On Monday (7), French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot argued in a press conference held after meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, in Jerusalem, that the arms embargo on Israel aims to guarantee the “security of the country and its citizens”.
When Macron proposed the idea last weekend, Netanyahu responded that Israel “will win with or without your support.”
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