Paris and Moscow on Thursday strongly condemned Israel's strikes in Lebanon as a dangerous escalation of the Middle East conflict but Washington, while urging restraint, stated Israel had the right to self defence.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy called Israel's bombardment of Beirut airport "a disproportionate act of war", adding the risk of a regional war "absolutely" existed. On his part, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mikhail Kamynin denounced both Israel's attack on Lebanon and its on-going operations against the Palestinian territories.
"The continuing destruction by Israel of civilian infrastructure in Lebanon and in Palestinian territory (and) the disproportionate use of force from which civilian populations suffer cannot be understood and justified," he said, according to Reuters.
"The attack on Beirut international airport is a dangerous step on the way to military escalation," he added.
Douste-Blazy said: "For several hours, there has been a bombardment of an airport of an entirely sovereign country, a friend of France ... this is a disproportionate act of war."
Douste-Blazy also condemned Hizbullah's firing of rockets into northern Israel and the kidnapping of the soldiers, telling Europe 1 radio these were "irresponsible acts". "The only solution is a return to reason by both sides," he said. "We are calling for a lowering of tensions," he said.
