French President Emmanuel Macron has called on Israel to avoid escalation, “particularly in Lebanon”, following a strike in Beirut attributed to Israel that killed Hamas’s deputy leader, AFP quotes the Elysee Palace as saying.

Macron, who spoke by telephone with Israeli minister and war cabinet member Benny Gantz, said it was “essential to avoid any escalatory attitude, particularly in Lebanon, and that France would continue to pass on these messages to all players directly or indirectly involved in the area”, the presidency said.

After the strike, Hezbollah vowed Aruri’s death would not go “unpunished”, calling it “a serious assault on Lebanon… and a dangerous development in the course of the war”.

In his conversation with Gantz, Macron reiterated his call for a “lasting ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas, the presidency said.

He also expressed again his “deepest concern” at the mounting civilian death toll in Gaza, as well as the humanitarian crisis unfolding inside the Palestinian territory, while at the same time reaffirming “France’s commitment to the security of Israel”.