French far-left leader calls on Macron to get ‘angry’ over possible Israeli aggression against Lebanon

By Ümit Dönmez

PARIS (AA) - French hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon urged President Emmanuel Macron on Monday to get “angry" over possible Israeli aggression against Lebanon.

In a social media post, Melenchon, who heads the La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party, noted that signs of an Israeli attack against its northern neighbor are increasing.

“Signs are growing of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's aggression against Lebanon. Don't touch Lebanon! 700 French peacekeepers are threatened with assassination like so many UN personnel in Gaza. Don't touch Lebanon! Macron must be angry!” he said.

A senior leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah group was killed Monday in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah announced that Wissam al-Hassan was targeted in the village of Khirbet Selm, without providing further details on the circumstances of his death.

Earlier in the day, the Lebanese National News Agency reported that two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a car in the area.

The Lebanese-Israeli border has been the scene of exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel since Oct. 7 last year. The daily clashes have been the deadliest since the two sides went to war in 2006.

The assassination earlier this month of senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri has also raised fears of a possible escalation of the conflict. Al-Arouri was killed in an airstrike in Beirut, but Israel has not claimed responsibility.

According to the information, analysis and investigation site Ici Beyrouth, the French ambassador to Lebanon, Herve Magro, announced on Jan. 4 that Macron’s special envoy in Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, will soon visit Beirut to continue the mission of the Group of 5 (France, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Qatar) aimed at resolving the ongoing presidential crisis in Lebanon.

During a visit to the Maronite League headquarters, Magro emphasized that France is "making efforts to ensure that Lebanon is not drawn into the ongoing escalation in the region. He was referring to the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, especially in the Gaza Strip.