'Shame on them': Israeli PM Netanyahu slams French Prez Macron's calls for arms embargo

The Israeli PM, defending his country’s actions, said it is fighting on seven fronts “against the enemies of civilisation”

A day ahead of the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed French President Emmanuel Macron for seeking a halt in arms shipments to the Jewish country for use in Gaza and a cease-fire, citing the heavy civilian toll in the Palestinian territory.

"As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilised countries should be standing firmly by Israel side. Yet President Macron and other western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. Shame on them,” Netanyahu said in an address to Israeli citizens.

Macron, on Saturday, in an interview with France Inter Radio, had stated that one should not fight terrorism and terrorists by sacrificing a civilian population, adding that France doesn’t send arms to Israel for use in Gaza.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked southern Israel last October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. It has also displaced nearly all of the enclave's 2.3 million people, triggering a hunger crisis, and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.

The Israeli PM, defending his country’s actions, said it is fighting on seven fronts “against the enemies of civilisation”. Netanyahu further said the country is fighting against Hamas, who was responsible for the October 7 attacks, in Gaza, and against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“We are fighting against the Houthis in Yemen, and the Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, that together have launched hundreds of drones and missile attacks against Israel. We are fighting against terrorists in Judea and Samaria, who are trying to murder civilians in the heart of our cities. And we are fighting against Iran, which last week fired over 200 ballistic missiles directly at Israel and which stands behind this seven-front war against Israel.”

The Lebanese media, meanwhile, reported a series of intense Israeli airstrikes on southern Beirut, including the Chweifat area, early Sunday morning. According to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA), five strikes were carried out, four of which were described as "very violent." The strikes targeted Hezbollah-controlled areas, with ambulances swiftly responding to the impacted zones.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in major cities around the world on Saturday demanding an end to bloodshed in Gaza and the wider Middle East as the start of Israel's war in the Palestinian enclave approaches its first anniversary.

(With agency inputs)