French President Emmanuel Macron called on Israel to avoid escalation "especially in Lebanon" after an attack attributed to Israel in Beirut that killed the deputy leader of Hamas, the Elysee Palace said.
Macron, who spoke by phone with Israeli defense minister and cabinet member Benny Gantz, said "it is essential to avoid any escalation, especially in Lebanon, and that France will continue to convey these messages to all actors, directly or indirectly involved in the area," the presidency announced.
Hamas number two leader Saleh al-Aruri was killed in a strike attributed to Israel in a Beirut suburb on the evening of December 2, the Palestinian militant group and Lebanese security officials said.
Israel regularly carries out strikes against the Hamas-linked Hezbollah movement along its shared border with Lebanon, but the killing of Aruri is the first time since the Gaza war began that it has targeted the Lebanese capital.
After the strike, Hezbollah threatened that Aruri's death would not go "unpunished", calling it a "serious attack on Lebanon... and a dangerous development in the course of the war".
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati also condemned the killing and said it "aims to drag Lebanon" further into the war between Israel and Hamas.
In his conversation with Gantz, Macron repeated his call for a "permanent ceasefire" between Israel and Hamas, the presidency said.
He also reiterated his "deepest concern" at the growing number of civilian casualties in Gaza, as well as the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Palestinian territories, while reaffirming "France's commitment to Israel's security".
The war in Gaza was sparked by a bloody attack by Hamas on October 7, which killed about 1,140 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
After the attack, Israel launched a relentless bombing and ground offensive against the group, which killed at least 22,185 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry./BGNES
