In a significant escalation of military engagement, France has launched airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria as diplomatic efforts to strengthen stability in Lebanon are ongoing and a fragile ceasefire with Israel continues to hold.
Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu has confirmed that French aircraft have bombed Islamic State positions in Syria, in its first such strike on the country's soil since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
Posting on X, Lecornu wrote: "Our armed forces remain engaged in battling terrorism in the Levant," during a New Year visit to French UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.
"On Sunday, French air assets carried out targeted strikes against Daesh on Syrian soil," he added, using the Arabic name for IS.
The defence ministry also explained that France's Rafale fighter jets and US-made Reaper drones "dropped a total of seven bombs on two military targets belonging to Daesh in central Syria".
France has belonged to the Inherent Resolve international coalition against Islamic State since 2014 for Iraq and 2015 for Syria.
French troops involved in the operations are based in the region, including in the United Arab Emirates.
As Assad's fall to a shock offensive by Syrian rebels led by a radical Sunni group rapidly reshapes the country, observers fear space could be left for IS to regather its strength.
The group has survived in both Iraq and Syria despite the destruction of its so-called caliphate that lasted from 2014 to 2019.
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Lebanon ceasefire
The news of the strike comes as France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Lecornu arrived in Lebanon on Monday, where a fragile truce since late November ended intense fighting between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.
Upon arrival in Beirut, Barrot and Lecornu met with Lebanon's army chief Joseph Aoun, and on Tuesday visited UN peacekeepers near the Israeli border.
A Lebanese army statement on social media said that Aoun and the visiting ministers discussed "ways to strengthen cooperation relations between the armies of the two countries and to continue support for the army in light of current circumstances".
Aoun – who is being touted as a possible candidate for Lebanon's president – has been tasked with deploying troops in the south of the country since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire came into effect on 27 November.
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Lecornu also said he is due to meet with a French general representing Paris "within the ceasefire monitoring mechanism".
"Our armies are, and will remain, committed to the stability of Lebanon and the region," he said on X.
The monitoring body brings together Lebanon, Israel, the United States, France and the United Nations' UNIFIL peacekeeping mission.
It is meant to support the implementation of the ceasefire and assess violations.
On Thursday, UNIFIL said it was "concerned" by "the continued destruction" carried out by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, despite the truce.
(With AFP)
