France to send foreign minister to Lebanon in bid to stop war, Macron says

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday he was dispatching his foreign minister to Lebanon this week as part of efforts to prevent a full-fledged war, calling on Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah to immediately stop hostilities.

"There cannot be, must not be war in Lebanon," he said in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

France has historical ties with Lebanon and prior to the recent flare-up had worked for months on proposals to defuse tensions between the two sides.

It has been working with the United States at the United Nations on an initiative to stop the fighting and open the door to more diplomacy, diplomats said.

"We are firmly calling on Israel to stop the escalation in Lebanon and Hezbollah to stop firing towards Israel," Macron said.

He said his newly appointed Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot would travel to Lebanon at the end of the week.

On the conflict in Gaza, Macron said that while Israel had a right to defend itself after the attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, the war had lasted too long and needed to end now.

"There is no justification, no explanation for thousands of civilian Palestinian deaths. Too many civilians are dead," he said.

(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Howard Goller)