France's UN envoy slammed the scale and persistence of Israel's military campaign in Lebanon, warning that the offensive risked repeating the mistakes of past occupations.
Jerome Bonnafont, whose country requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting, said the attacks are a "major strategic mistake on Israel's part".
“Nothing can justify the continuation and scale of its military operations in Lebanon, the thousands of civilian deaths and injuries, and the forced displacement of populations, or its ever-deeper occupation of Lebanese territory,” Mr Bonnafont said.
He blamed Hezbollah and its Iranian backers for starting the conflict along the Israeli-Lebanese border, while warning that Israel's deepening military operations put it at risk of repeating past mistakes and undermining regional stability.
“It is Hezbollah, supported by Iran, that bears responsibility for the outbreak of hostilities, having dragged Lebanon and the Lebanese people into a war that is not theirs,” Mr Bonnafont said.
“We condemned this unequivocally, just as we condemn today Hezbollah's continued attacks against Israeli territory. We recognise Israel's right to defend itself against Hezbollah's attacks."
Mr Bonnafont added that Israel's recent actions could revive memories of its former occupation of southern Lebanon.
“This headlong rush took on a symbolic dimension yesterday by planting its flag on the Beaufort fortress, which served as a base during its occupation of southern Lebanon until 2000," he told the council. "Israel is returning to a period that many believed was behind us.”
China's ambassador Fu Cong warned that the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel is now close to existing “in name only”.
He called on the international community to act urgently before “the situation slides into an even more dangerous abyss".
Responding to France's criticism, Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon said his country was not seeking to expand the conflict or retain territory in Lebanon.
“We left Lebanon, Mr ambassador, in 2000 because we did not want to stay there,” Mr Danon said. “And today we do not want to stay there.”
At the same time, he warned that Israel would continue military operations against Hezbollah if attacks on Israeli territory persisted.
"Israel will act wherever necessary to defend its citizens, south of the Litani or north of the Litani," he said. "If our children are running to shelters, Hezbollah's leadership will not enjoy safe haven — not in southern Lebanon, not in Beirut."
Lebanon's UN ambassador Ahmad Arafa said Israeli officials had made their intentions clear through calls to expand military operations and occupy more Lebanese territory.
“They are evident in the statements of its officials and their calls for the need to expand their aggression and occupy wider swathes of Lebanese territory,” he said.
Mr Arafa said a lack of accountability had encouraged further breaches and that “emboldens the perpetrator to commit the very same crimes time and time again".
Before the meeting, US President Donald Trump said he had personally intervened to avert an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, hours after Israeli officials threatened to attack the Hezbollah stronghold again.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said he had held a “very productive” phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and persuaded Israel to pull back.
“There will be no troops going to Beirut and any troops that are on their way have already been turned back,” Mr Trump wrote. “Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to de-escalate.”
Tension surged along the border a day before Lebanon and Israel were set to begin a fourth round of US-hosted direct negotiations on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday, Israel's government ordered strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, including towards the outskirts of Haifa, and Israeli ground forces pushed deeper into southern Lebanon than at any point since 2000.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the orders were issued in response to “repeated violations of the ceasefire and attacks against our cities and citizens”.
Martha Pobee, UN assistant secretary general, told the Security Council that Israeli military activity north of the Blue Line had expanded significantly in recent weeks.
“The Israel ... forces have expanded their presence north of the Blue Line, with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) reporting extensive military activity, including air strikes, artillery fire, logistics movements and engineering works, throughout its area of operations,” Ms Pobee said.
“Unifil has also observed widespread demolitions of buildings in villages in the vicinity of the Blue Line.”
She added that on May 30, Unifil recorded 992 projectiles fired by Israeli forces, “the highest number since a cessation of hostilities came into effect on April 17".
