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French Foreign Minister Urges Israel Not to Invade Lebanon

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (R) meets with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (L) at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 30 September 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (R) meets with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (L) at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 30 September 2024. (EPA)
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French Foreign Minister Urges Israel Not to Invade Lebanon

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (R) meets with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (L) at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 30 September 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (R) meets with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (L) at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 30 September 2024. (EPA)

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has urged Israel to refrain from launching a ground offensive in Lebanon and to reach a cease-fire with the Lebanese group Hezbollah after nearly two weeks of escalating tit-for-tat strikes across Israel's northern border.

“There is still hope, but there is little time left,” Barrot said during a news conference in Beirut Monday, just hours after an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in the heart of the Lebanese capital. “I therefore urge Israel to refrain from any ground incursion and to cease fire.”

He also urged Hezbollah to stop firing on Israel, saying it “bears heavy responsibility in the current situation, given its choice to enter the conflict” after ally Hamas’ Oct. 7 deadly incursion into southern Israel.

Barrot was in Lebanon to delivery medical aid and hospital equipment. He met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

He expressed solidarity with the Lebanese people, saying they are “caught in a war (they) did not choose,” and said France will provide flights for any French nationals who want to leave Lebanon.

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Israeli Strikes Kill 17 Palestinians in Gaza, Orders Hospital to Evacuate

Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp are prepared for the funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp are prepared for the funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 17 Palestinians in Gaza, Orders Hospital to Evacuate

Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp are prepared for the funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp are prepared for the funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 17 Palestinians, eight of them at a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City, medics said, as the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of a hospital in the north.
Palestinian medics said eight people, including children, were killed in the Musa Bin Nusayr School that sheltered displaced families in Gaza City.
The Israeli military said in a statement the strike targeted Hamas groups operating from a command center embedded inside the school. It said Hamas used the place to plan and execute attacks against Israeli forces.
Also in Gaza City, medics said four Palestinians were killed when an airstrike hit a car.
At least five other Palestinians were killed in two separate airstrikes in Rafah and Khan Younis south of the enclave.
In the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, where the army has operated since October, Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, said the army ordered staff to evacuate the hospital and move patients and injured people toward another hospital in the area.
Abu Safiya said the mission was "next to impossible" because staff did not have ambulances to move the patients.
The Israeli army has operated in the two towns of north Gaza, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, as well as the nearby Jabalia camp for nearly three months.
Palestinians have accused Israel of carrying out acts of "ethnic cleansing" to depopulate those areas to create a buffer zone.
Israel denies this and says the campaign in the area aimed to fight Hamas and prevent them from regrouping. It said its forces have killed hundreds of fighters and dismantled military infrastructure since that operation began.
Armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said they killed many Israeli soldiers in ambushes during the same period.
Mediators have yet to secure a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas group.
Sources close to the discussions told Reuters on Thursday that Qatar and Egypt had been able to resolve some differences between the warring parties but sticking points remained.
Israel began its assault on Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says about 100 hostages are still being held, but it is unclear how many are alive.
Authorities in Gaza say Israel's campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians and displaced most of the population of 2.3 million. Much of the coastal enclave is in ruins.