By Zein Khalil
JERUSALEM (AA) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday that Israel would not agree to a unilateral cease-fire in Lebanon or a settlement that would allow Hezbollah to rearm, according to a statement.
“The Prime Minister told President Macron that he opposes a unilateral cease-fire, which would not change the security situation in Lebanon and would return the country to its previous state,” Netanyahu’s office said about the telephone call.
“Israel is operating against Hezbollah to prevent it from threatening Israel's citizens on the northern border and to enable them to return to their homes safely,” he added.
The Israeli premier stressed that “Israel would not agree to any arrangement that does not provide this and which does not stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping.”
Netanyahu “was taken aback at President Macron's intention to host a conference in Paris on the issue of Lebanon, with participants such as South Africa and Algeria, which are working to deny Israel its fundamental right of self-defense and, in effect, reject its very right to exist,” according to the statement.
The French Foreign Ministry announced Oct. 9 that the international conference, convened by Macron, would take place Oct. 24 in Paris.
The conference will gather Lebanon’s partner nations, the UN, EU and international and regional organizations, along with civil society, to “mobilize the international community to meet Lebanon's urgent protection and relief needs.”
The French newspaper Le Parisien reported earlier Tuesday that Macron told a Cabinet meeting that “Netanyahu must not forget that Israel was founded (in 1948) by a UN decision, and thus he cannot ignore UN resolutions.”
Macron's remarks came amid tensions in southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces have targeted UN peacekeeping forces with the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon.
On Oct. 6, Macron called for a halt to the delivery of arms used by Israel in the Gaza Strip, claiming that France “was not involved” in supplying those weapons.
Netanyahu later criticized Macron’s statement in a televised address in English, saying, “Israel will prevail with you or without you.”
Hours after Macron’s comments on halting arms supplies to Israel, the French presidency issued a contradictory statement, confirming that France would continue providing Israel with the necessary equipment “for self-defense.”
Following a telephone call between Netanyahu and Macron on Oct. 10, the Elysee Palace stated that Macron reaffirmed France's “unwavering commitment to Israel's security” and noted that French military resources had been prepared to defend Israel during recent Iranian attacks.
Israel has mounted a huge air campaign in Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing more than 1,500 people and displacing more than 1 million.
The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on Gaza, in which Israel has killed nearly 42,400 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.
Israel expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio