Israel Yet to Respond to French Lebanon Proposals

FILE PHOTO: Razor wire lies near an abandoned house, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, near Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel March 19, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Razor wire lies near an abandoned house, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, near Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel March 19, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo
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Israel Yet to Respond to French Lebanon Proposals

FILE PHOTO: Razor wire lies near an abandoned house, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, near Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel March 19, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Razor wire lies near an abandoned house, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, near Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel March 19, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo

Israel has not given a response to France on Paris' proposals to reduce tensions between Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah, France's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in escalating daily cross-border strikes over the past months - in parallel with the war in Gaza - and their increasing range and sophistication has raised fears of a wider regional conflict.

France has historical ties with Lebanon and has proposed written proposals to both sides that would see Hezbollah's elite unit pull back 10 km (6 miles) from the Israeli border, while Israel would halt strikes in southern Lebanon, Reuters reported.

Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne went to both Lebanon and Israel in April to push France's efforts, and Israel's foreign minister was in Paris earlier this month. Lebanon's foreign minister was in Paris for talks on Wednesday.

"We have had a relatively positive response from the Lebanese, but I think we have not had any return from Israel at this point," Christophe Lemoine told reporters in a daily briefing.

The written proposal also looks at long-term border issues and had been discussed with partners including the United States, which has its own efforts to ease tensions and exerts the most influence on Israel.



Canada Says Israeli Troops Firing on Lebanon Peacekeepers is Unacceptable

A United Nations flag flies in the back of one of the armored vehicles of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) during a patrol around Marjayoun in south Lebanon on October 8, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
A United Nations flag flies in the back of one of the armored vehicles of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) during a patrol around Marjayoun in south Lebanon on October 8, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Canada Says Israeli Troops Firing on Lebanon Peacekeepers is Unacceptable

A United Nations flag flies in the back of one of the armored vehicles of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) during a patrol around Marjayoun in south Lebanon on October 8, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
A United Nations flag flies in the back of one of the armored vehicles of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) during a patrol around Marjayoun in south Lebanon on October 8, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Canada, which has been largely supportive of Israel's military offensive in Lebanon, on Thursday said an incident in which Israeli troops fired on UN peacekeepers was "alarming and unacceptable."
The UNIFIL force said two of its peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the force's main headquarters in Ras al-Naqoura.
"Canada calls for the protection of peacekeepers and humanitarian workers, and for all parties to comply with international humanitarian law," the foreign ministry said in a statement posted on social media platform X.