PARIS – French peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon came within seconds of firing missiles at Israeli F-15 fighter planes that repeatedly dived on their positions last week, according to French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie.
Foreign Minister Philippe Douse-Blazy summoned Israel’s ambassador to Paris to his office on Thursday to express “serious concern” about the incident and demand that Israel halt its flights over southern Lebanon.
“Our troops barely avoided a catastrophe,” Alliot-Marie told the lower house of France’s parliament Wednesday night in remarks broadcast Thursday. “In legitimate defense, our soldiers removed the covers from the missile battery and were two seconds away from firing at the planes that were threatening them.”
A spokesman for the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv said reports of the Oct. 31 incident were under investigation.
The United Nations and France, which leads the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, have repeatedly protested Israel’s flights over the area, saying they are a violation of the cease-fire that ended this summer’s 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah forces.
Israeli officials say the flights are needed to monitor Lebanon’s compliance with U.N. mandates that it prevent the smuggling of weapons to Hezbollah.
But U.N. peacekeepers reported 14 violations by Israeli aircraft last week during mock raids, including three over the headquarters of French troops in the south Lebanese town of Froun.
French officials said the warplanes dove toward the ground, then jerked skyward in maneuvers that could be used to drop bombs or fire on ground forces.
The planes were “clearly in attack position,” the French defense minister said.
Meanwhile in Lebanon, rival politicians failed to overcome their differences Thursday in talks aimed at breaking a political stalemate that threatens to return Lebanon to violence, but delegates agreed to meet again over the weekend.
The leaders, Christian and Muslim, pro- and anti-Syrian, met Thursday for their third session this week in a bid to avert a showdown on the streets over the demand by militant group Hezbollah for an expansion of the Cabinet that would give it veto power.
“The issue is complicated and sensitive. It’s not that easy. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a need for such consultations,” Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said.
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