French President Emmanuel Macron has reiterated his call for an arms embargo on Israel in response to the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. He also condemned recent attacks on United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, describing them as “totally unacceptable.”
Two Sri Lankan peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were injured this week after a Merkava tank fired at a watchtower at the force’s headquarters in the border town of Naqoura. Israel claims its forces fired at an immediate threat, but Macron insists that the strike was “deliberate,” echoing the view of the force’s spokesperson, who spoke to RT.
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“It is totally unacceptable to see UNIFIL troops being deliberately targeted by Israeli army forces. We condemn it, we do not tolerate it, and we will not accept that it is being repeated,” Macron said following a summit of European leaders in Cyprus on Friday.
Macron argued that stopping the sale of weapons to Israel that it uses in Gaza and Lebanon is crucial to halting the violence.
“We all know it. It’s the unique lever that would end it,” the French leader told a joint news conference following a gathering of the Med9, an alliance of nine EU Mediterranean nations.
The French leader explained that he is not calling for “disarming Israel,” but rather for “stopping all additional destabilization in this part of the world.”
This is not the first time Macron has called for an arms embargo on Israel. In an interview with French media aired last Saturday, he advocated for “a political solution” to the conflict in the Middle East and argued that Western nations should “stop delivering arms for fighting in Gaza.” He labeled the continued hostilities “a mistake” and warned against turning Lebanon into “a new Gaza.”
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded with a fiery statement, claiming that Israel is fighting “on seven fronts against the enemies of civilization,” referring to conflicts with Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, as well as Iran and its allies in Syria and Iraq.
“As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilized countries should stand firmly by Israel’s side,” Netanyahu said. “Yet President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. Shame on them,” he added, calling the move a “disgrace” and vowing that Israel “would win with or without their support.”