French UN envoy calls Israeli incursion into Lebanon a ‘strategic mistake’

French Ambassador to the United Nations Jerome Bonnafont described Israel’s expanding military incursion into Lebanon as a “major strategic mistake”, warning that the raising of an Israeli flag over Beaufort Castle reflected a “worrying return to the past”.

Bonnafont said Hezbollah, with support from Iran, had helped drag Lebanon into war, but stressed that there was no justification for the continuation of Israeli military operations.

The French envoy reiterated France’s position that a political and diplomatic solution remains the only viable path to long-term stability in Lebanon and the region.