France’s Macron Urges Restraint in Lebanon after Wave of Explosions

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the port city of Le Havre, France, 12 September 2024. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron attends a ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the port city of Le Havre, France, 12 September 2024. (EPA)
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France’s Macron Urges Restraint in Lebanon after Wave of Explosions

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the port city of Le Havre, France, 12 September 2024. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron attends a ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the port city of Le Havre, France, 12 September 2024. (EPA)

French President Emmanuel Macron held phone calls with top political and military leaders from Lebanon, his office said on Thursday, urging restraint after a wave of explosions of pagers and radio devices.

Macron asked Lebanese leaders to pass on messages to local groups including Hezbollah to avoid further escalation, the Elysee said, amid fears of a wider war.  

Thousands of explosions in booby-trapped radios and pagers hit the Iran-backed group on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The attacks on Hezbollah's communications equipment killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000, raising fears that a full-blown war was imminent.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind the attacks, but multiple security sources have said they were carried out by its spy agency Mossad.

Spain's foreign ministry condemned the attacks as a violation of international humanitarian law that threatened the region's stability.

"We call for restraint on the part of all actors," the ministry said in a statement. "It's necessary to avoid a further escalation of violence and the risk of open war with unforeseeable consequences."

Spain's condemnation came hours after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid.



Israeli Military Says Commandos Raided Missile Plant in Syria in September

People inspect a damaged area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
People inspect a damaged area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Military Says Commandos Raided Missile Plant in Syria in September

People inspect a damaged area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
People inspect a damaged area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria September 9, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel's military said on Thursday its special forces had raided an underground missile production site in Syria in September that it said was primed to produce hundreds of precision missiles for use against Israel by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

The complex near Masyaf, close to the Mediterranean coast, was "the flagship of Iranian manufacturing efforts in our region", Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told a briefing with reporters.

"This facility was designed to manufacture hundreds of strategic missiles per year from start to finish, for Hezbollah to use in their aerial attacks on Israel."

He said the plant, dug into a mountainside, had been under observation by Israel since construction began in 2017 and was on the point of being able to manufacture precision-guided missiles, some with a range of up to 300 km (190 miles).

"This ability was becoming active, so we're talking about an immediate threat," he said.

Details of the Sept. 8 raid have been reported in Israeli media but Shoshani said this was the first confirmation by the military, which rarely comments on special forces operations.

At the time, Syrian state media said at least 16 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the west of the country.

Shoshani said the nighttime raid was "one of the more complex operations the IDF has done in recent years". Accompanied by airstrikes, it involved dozens of aircraft and around 100 helicopter-borne troops, he said.

"At the end of the raid, the troops dismantled the facility, including the machines and the manufacturing equipment, themselves," he said.

The military released footage showing Israeli troops boarding and dismounting from helicopters and moving through what appears to be a concrete-lined tunnel and industrial site, where they examine documents.

Other footage showed senior commanders at a control center, apparently as the operation proceeds.

Israeli officials have accused the former Syrian government of president Bahar al-Assad of helping the Lebanese-based Hezbollah movement receive arms from Iran and say they are determined to stop the flow of weapons into Lebanon.

As Assad's government crumbled towards the end of last year, Israel launched a series of strikes against Syrian military infrastructure and weapons manufacturing sites to prevent them falling into the hands of enemies.