Macron condemns 'indiscriminate Israeli strikes' that only aggravate 'unbearable' human toll in Gaza, Lebanon

By Nur Asena Erturk

The French president condemned “indiscriminate Israeli strikes” that only aggravate the human toll which is “already unbearable” in Gaza and in Lebanon, according to an official statement.

President Emmanuel Macron had a phone conversation with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, the French presidency (Elysee) said in a statement on Wednesday.

Macron renewed France’s commitment to prevent a spillover in the region, “which would have devastating results for the populations and for international security."

The president, in this context, also "condemned the indiscriminate Israeli strikes that only aggravate the human toll, which is already unbearable in Gaza as in Lebanon."

Macron stressed the need for a cease-fire “without delays” in Lebanon and urged Netanyahu to stop his “operations.”

“The president also expressed his outrage” over the injury of several UN peacekeepers in Lebanon and urged Israel to put an end to “unjustifiable targeting" of UN forces in the region.

Macron expressed deep concern over the situation in the West Bank, “the violence against the civilians, particularly from the settlers,” the statement noted.

Besides its campaign in Gaza since last October that has claimed more than 42,000 lives, Israel escalated its operations in Lebanon last month, killing more than 1,500 people, assassinating Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and displacing over a million others.

It launched a ground operation on Oct. 1 and has since also fired on a UN peacekeeping mission post in southern Lebanon.