Macron tells Netanyahu to ‘avoid cycle of reprisals’

French President Emmanuel Macron told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to “avoid a cycle of reprisals” in the Middle East, his office said, as fears of a regional war soar.

After earlier telling his Iranian counterpart to “avoid a cycle of reprisals that would put the populations and stability of the region at risk”, Macron urged Netanyahu in a telephone call to adopt the same reasoning, the French presidency said in a statement.

Already high amid the war in Gaza, tensions in the Middle East have soared following the assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut last week.

The former has been blamed on Israel, which claimed responsibility for the latter.

Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran have vowed reprisals, raising fears of wider conflict in a region already on tenterhooks since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The French presidency said it was imperative to prevent all-out war between Israel and the powerful Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which have been trading near-daily cross-border fire since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.

“Faced with rising tensions on the border between Israel and Lebanon, every effort must be made… to avoid a regional conflagration,” said the French presidency, stressing that “a war between Israel and Lebanon would have destructive consequences for the entire region”.

Macron also reminded Netanyahu that “the absolute priority” for France remained “the immediate achievement of a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages… and the massive and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to the people there”.