France says supports Israel's 'security' and Lebanon's 'sovereignty'
France on Friday vowed "unwavering" support for both "Israel's security and Lebanon's stability and sovereignty," hours after a major border flare-up.
Israel unleashed rare airstrikes on Lebanon and bombarded the Gaza Strip late Thursday and early Friday, an escalation that sparked fears of a broader conflict following days of violence over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.
The early morning Israeli strikes followed an unusually large rocket barrage fired at Israel from southern Lebanon — what analysts described as the most serious cross-border violence since Israel’s 2006 war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
The Israeli strikes seemed designed to avoid drawing in Hezbollah, which Israel considers its most immediate threat. The Israeli military said its warplanes struck infrastructure belonging to Palestinian militants that it accused of firing the nearly three dozen rockets that slammed into open areas and northern Israeli towns on Thursday. Nonetheless, the Israeli military said it believed the Palestinian militants acted with the knowledge of Hezbollah, which holds sway over much of southern Lebanon.
There were no reports of serious casualties, but several residents of the southern Lebanese town of al-Qlayleh, including Syrian refugees, said they were lightly wounded.
Source: Agence France Presse, Associated Press
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