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Emmanuel Macron condemns Lebanon strikes, says he’s spoken with country’s leaders

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by Tara Suter - 04/08/26 9:04 PM ET

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by Tara Suter - 04/08/26 9:04 PM ET

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French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday criticized recent Israeli strikes in Lebanon and said he’s spoken with its leaders, following a U.S.-Iranian ceasefire being on shaky ground do to the strikes.

“I have just spoken with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam,” Macron said in a Wednesday evening post on the social platform X.

“I expressed France’s full solidarity in the face of the indiscriminate strikes carried out by Israel in Lebanon today, which resulted in a very high number of civilian casualties. We condemn these strikes in the strongest possible terms,” he said.

On Wednesday, Israel launched an onslaught of attacks with no warning to Lebanon. The attacks hit over 100 sites in 10 minutes and were of the largest scale in Lebanon since the beginning of Israel’s most recent offensive there.

A two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran that came about Tuesday appeared to be getting more shaky on its first full day amid Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and reports that Iran had closed the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian state media on Wednesday reported that Tehran had closed the Strait due to the Israeli military’s barrage of attacks aimed at the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Pakistan, a mediator in the negotiations for the ceasefire, said that Lebanon was included in the ceasefire. However, Israel and the U.S. have maintained that it was not included in the ceasefire.

In his Wednesday evening post, Macron said “Lebanon must be fully covered by” the ceasefire.

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