French FM relays message from Macron to Mikati

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati received a phone call Wednesday evening from French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

During the phone talks, Colonna said French President Emmanuel Macron had tasked her with conveying “France’s keenness on Lebanon’s sovereignty,” in the wake of the Israeli strike that killed a top Hamas official in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

“More than ever, the time has come for shouldering responsibility and no one will triumph should escalation take place,” Colonna quoted Macron as saying.

Mikati for his part stressed the need to “halt the continuous Israeli aggression against Lebanon and its sovereignty and to prevent Israel from worsening the situation.”