French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, announced that his country called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council this week to discuss the situation in Lebanon, after the recent increase in Israeli raids on southern and eastern Lebanon. Barrot, who has just assumed his post, said that "France calls on the parties and those who support them to stop the escalation and avoid the outbreak of a regional fire that would be devastating for everyone, starting with the civilian population." For this reason, France requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Lebanon this week. He continued: "At this moment, I am thinking of the Lebanese people at a time when Israeli raids have just caused hundreds of civilian casualties, including dozens of children. These strikes that are being carried out on both sides of the Blue Line (the border between the Zionist entity and Lebanon) and on a wider scale in the entire region must stop immediately." The Zionist entity has recently intensified its att acks on Lebanon. The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced that the death toll from the Zionist aggression on southern and eastern Lebanon yesterday, Monday, reached 492 martyrs and 1645 wounded. The ministry explained, in a statement, that among the martyrs were 35 children and 58 women. Source: National Iraqi News Agency