PARIS(National Times)- France will strengthen its cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces and provide armoured transport vehicles along with operational and logistical support, President Emmanuel Macron has said, as Lebanon is pulled deeper into the war in the Middle East. “Everything must be done to prevent this country, so close to France, from once again being drawn into war,” Macron said on Thursday in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “At this moment of great danger, I call on the Israeli prime minister not to expand the war to Lebanon. I call on Iranian leaders not to further draw Lebanon into a war that is not its own,” the French leader added. Macron’s comments followed a request by Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun for the French president to intervene to “prevent the targeting of the southern suburbs [of Beirut] following threats by the Israeli army against its residents,” the Lebanese presidency said in a separate statement. Israel launched fresh airstrikes on Beirut on Thursday, having ordered hundreds of thousands of people to leave the city’s southern suburbs. The Israeli military says it is targeting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah armed group across Lebanon, with Beirut’s south seen as its stronghold. Hezbollah has launched rockets and drones over the border into Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Lebanese state media said on Friday that Israel had launched overnight strikes on several towns in the east and had also targeted the eastern town of Dours at dawn. Its health ministry says 123 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Monday. At least 90,000 have been displaced.

HUMANITARIAN AID

Macron also announced the “immediate despatch of humanitarian aid” to Lebanon. “Several tonnes of medicines are being transported, along with shelter solutions and assistance supplies,” he said. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed in a TV interview that five tonnes of medical equipment and several tonnes of humanitarian supplies would arrive in Lebanon “as early as next week”. France has said it aims to prevent escalation across the region and has taken steps to protect its own positions amid the wider conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran. “Hezbollah must immediately cease its fire toward Israel. Israel must refrain from any ground intervention or large-scale operation on Lebanese territory,” Macron said.

‘NOT AT WAR’

The president has sought to reassure the public that France is neither waging war in the Middle East nor intending to become embroiled in one. “I fully understand and hear your concerns, but I wanted to be absolutely clear… France is not part of this war. We are not in combat, and we will not be drawn into this conflict,” Macron said in an Instagram post on Thursday evening, responding to a young user who had expressed anxiety over the potential fallout from the Israeli-American offensive against Iran.. France has dispatched military reinforcements to the Middle East – including the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle – to safeguard French nationals and allies caught in the crossfire of Iranian reprisals, helping them “intercept drones and missiles,” he explained. “In an entirely peaceful capacity, we are mobilising to try to secure maritime traffic,” Macron continued. Earlier on Tuesday, the president had announced he was seeking to build a coalition to protect the “shipping lanes vital to the global economy” in the region. “We shall endeavour to act as reasonably and peacefully as possible, because that is France’s role.”