A warning from President Emmanuel Macron

At a meeting of the Council of Ministers, Emmanuel Macron issued a clear warning in response to recent statements by the Israeli Prime Minister. According to participants in the meeting, he reminded them that “Benyamin Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a UN decision.” This reminder refers to the vote of the United Nations General Assembly in November 1947, which approved the plan to partition Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.

A call to respect international decisions

The President stressed that it was not appropriate to depart from UN decisions, declaring, “Therefore, this is not the time to break away from UN decisions.” This statement comes as Israel intensifies its ground offensive against the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon, where peacekeepers are also deployed.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701 stipulates that only the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) should operate in this region, while calling for a halt to hostilities on both sides of the border. However, Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of using UNIFIL facilities as cover for its attacks on Israel. He also called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday to “put the peacekeepers under cover immediately.”

Growing tensions in the region

UNIFIL, which has around 10,000 soldiers, including 700 French, denounced “shocking violations” by Israel, reporting a “forcible entry” of two Israeli tanks into one of its positions on Sunday. In response, the Israeli army claimed that one of its tanks had hit a UNIFIL post while evacuating wounded soldiers.