French president Macron calls on Hezbollah to 'immediately stop' strikes on Israel

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday called on Hezbollah to cease its strikes on Israel following the report of a barrage of projectiles launched from Lebanon during the Yom Kippur holy day in Israel.

“A ceasefire must be implemented in Lebanon immediately,” Macron said during a talk with Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri, adding that Hezbollah strikes must “immediately stop”.

In recent weeks, Israel has intensified its confrontations with Hezbollah along its northern border, conducting airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Meanwhile, Israeli forces continue their combat operations in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, UN peacekeepers in Lebanon warned Saturday against a “catastrophic” regional conflict as Israeli forces battled Hezbollah and Hamas militants on two fronts, on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

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Israel has faced a fierce diplomatic backlash over incidents in south Lebanon that saw five Blue Helmets injured.

On Saturday, the Lebanese health ministry said Israeli air strikes on two villages located near the capital Beirut killed nine people. Official media later reported an Israeli strike targeted a market in Nabatiyeh, an important southern city.

Israel had earlier told residents of south Lebanon not to return home, as its troops fought Hezbollah militants in a war that has killed more than 1,200 people since September 23, and forced more than a million others to flee their homes according to Lebanese authorities.

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Israel’s military said on Saturday its forces had attacked roughly 280 “terror targets” during combat operations in Lebanon and Gaza over the Yom Kippur weekend.

The Israeli air force “struck approximately 280 terror targets belonging to both Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip,” the military said in a statement.

“Among these targets were underground terror infrastructure sites, weapons storage facilities, military command centres, terrorist cells, and additional terrorist infrastructure sites.”

“In the Jabalia area, over 20 terrorists were eliminated over the past day by means of tank fire, close range exchanges of fire and aerial strikes. Since the start of the current operational activity in the area, the troops have eliminated approximately 200 terrorists,” the army said.

Israel began pounding Gaza shortly after suffering its worst ever attacks from Hamas militants on October 7 last year, and it launched a ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon on September 30.

The war between Israel and Hezbollah has since September 23 killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, and forced more than a million to flee their homes.

With inputs from agencies.