French President Emmanuel Macron condemned last week’s Israeli Air Force strikes in Lebanon and called them “unjust,” omitting the fact that they were in response to rockets fired into Israel.
Macron, who last year halted security exports to Israel and has accused it of “sowing barbarism” in Gaza, spoke on Friday during a joint press conference with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Paris.
Unusually, Macron also said he would speak with U.S. President Donald Trump about the issue.
“Today’s strikes and the failure to respect the ceasefire are unilateral actions that betray a given promise and play into Hezbollah’s hands,” he said. “No activity justifies such strikes,” added Macron, who called for respecting the ceasefire that “Today was unilaterally not respected by Israel.”
Israel attacked Hezbollah targets in Beirut on Friday after terrorists fired two rockets toward Kiryat Shmona. One rocket hit short in Lebanese territory and the IAF intercepted the other one. This was the third time that rockets were fired into Israel from Lebanon since the ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27.
Hezbollah denied that it fired the rockets. Israel has said that it holds Hezbollah accountable for any rocket fire by terrorists into Israel, along with any other group carrying out such attacks.
Simon Weinberg, a prominent independent journalist and pundit, wrote on X about Macron’s remarks: “Not a word about Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure. Not a sentence about the armed group’s daily ceasefire violations. Double standards are becoming a diplomatic pillar.
“Israel will always be guilty no matter what it does for Emmanuel Macron,” Weinberg wrote.
