French top diplomat urges Israel against Lebanon ground offensive
World
French FM Jean-Noel Barrot on Monday urged Israel not to send ground troops into Lebanon
BEIRUT (Lebanon) (AFP) – French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Monday urged Israel not to send ground troops into Lebanon, calling on Israel and armed group Hezbollah to immediately agree to a ceasefire.
"I urge Israel to refrain from any ground incursion and to cease fire. I call on Hezbollah to do the same and refrain from any action that could destabilise the region," Barrot told reporters in Beirut.
He called on the sides to agree to a truce put forward at the United Nations.
"It is still on the table. There is still hope, but there is little time," Barrot said.
Paris and Washington, joined by Arab, Western and European countries, called last week for Israel and Hezbollah to agree an "immediate 21-day ceasefire" and to "give diplomacy a chance".
Israel dismissed the plan, increasing its strikes on Lebanon's south, east and Beirut's southern suburbs and on Friday killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The escalation comes on the heels of nearly one year of cross-border fire with Israel that Hezbollah says is in support of ally Hamas, whose October 7 attack on Israel triggered war in Gaza.
Since mid-September, Israeli strikes across Lebanon have killed more than 1,000 people, authorities said.
