PARIS - France on Tuesday called on Israel to cease military overflights of Lebanon, describing them as a "violation of Lebanese sovereignty".

"We consider them contrary to the spirit and the letter of Resolution 1701," the UN Security Council decision adopted in August that ended the conflict between Israeli forces and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

France, which currently leads the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, has said its forces might open fire on the intruding aircraft to enforce the terms of the UN resolution.

"We call for all the parties to abstain from any act that could fuel or escalate tensions," the spokesman, Jean-Baptiste Mattei, told reporters.

Israeli warplanes have repeatedly flown over Lebanon, sometimes at low altitude, since the implementation of the resolution and the deployment of UN peacekeepers.

Lebanese authorities described the flights Tuesday over part of Beirut and in the south of the country, where the UN force is positioned, as mock air raids. They said some of their anti-aircraft crews shot at the planes.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has vowed the flights would continue because of alleged arms smuggling to Hezbollah since the war ended. Israeli military radio said the overflights were reconnaissance missions.

Copyright © 1999-2006 Lebanonwire^®.com. All rights reserved.