BEIRUT: France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna will travel to Lebanon on Saturday as part of diplomatic efforts to contain the Middle East conflict.
“We must avoid a regional eruption,” ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said ahead of Colonna’s visit.
The French minister is expected to call for “restraint” and “responsibility” in an effort to avoid a new front line on the Israeli-Lebanese border, Lemoine said.
His comments came as daily exchanges of fire along the border added to fears of a widening war.
Israeli officials have also stepped up their warnings to Hezbollah.
During a visit to forces deployed along the border last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “If Hezbollah chooses to go into a full-scale war, Beirut and southern Lebanon — not far away from here — will turn it into Gaza and Khan Younis.”
The Israeli military dropped leaflets in southern Lebanon on Friday, warning residents against assisting Hezbollah as the conflict between the group and Israeli forces entered its 69th day.
Eyewitnesses in Kfarchouba and Kfarhamam saw a drone drop the leaflets in the morning, some taking photos and sharing them on social media.
Hundreds of people, including women, children and the elderly, were forced to leave their homes near the border and head to safety at the beginning of the confrontation.
In a statement, the Kfarchouba municipality described the Israeli leaflets as “a prelude to justify aggressive acts intended against our defenseless civilians, who are safe and peaceful in their homes, preserving their property, and clinging to their homeland and land.”
The municipality said that there are “no weapons, armed individuals, or armed manifestations in the town, except the Lebanese army and UNIFIL.”
Kfarchouba, which has a Sunni majority, is located in the Arqoub area of the Hasbaya district, 120 km from Beirut.
The town is situated on the triangle of the Lebanese-Syrian-Israeli border, making it a strategic location.
Although Israel withdrew from Kfarchouba under the Blue Line, vast agricultural areas, known as the Kfarchouba Heights and belonging to the town, remain under Israeli control.
Four houses in the town have been destroyed by Israeli shelling since hostilities erupted on Oct. 8.
The municipality has asked UNIFIL and the Lebanese army to protect the town by defining a neutral area, preventing Israel from carrying out any hostile actions.
Several people were hurt when an Israeli drone targeted a house in the Lebanese border town of Yarin on Friday.
Ambulances took the wounded to hospitals in Tyre for treatment, according to media reports.
Israeli shelling has escalated in recent days, shifting from targeting forests and valleys to striking civilian homes.
Warning sirens sounded on Friday in Arab Al-Aramshe in western Galilee on the Israeli side as Hezbollah targeted the Israeli military outposts of Yaara and Arab Al-Aramshe. Sirens also sounded in the Hanita border settlement.
Hezbollah said that it struck the Israeli Al-Jardah military outpost with Burkan missiles, and also targeted a group of Israeli soldiers entering the Intelligence Battalion headquarters in Mitat.
The group also hit the Israeli Bayad Blida military outpost.
Israel shelled the Labbouneh region on the outskirts of Naqoura using internationally prohibited phosphorus bombs.
Israeli artillery shelling also targeted the outskirts of Alma Al-Shaab and Tallat Hamames in Sarda, as well as the Tayr Harfa and Yarin villages and the outskirts of Houla.
It also hit Wadi Qatmun on the outskirts of the Rmaych village.
Israeli shells struck Kfarkila village and Tallat Al-Awayda on the outskirts of the border village of Al-Tayba.
Israeli artillery also targeted several houses in Ras Al-Dhaher and Al-Tarash in the Mays Al-Jabal village.
