Macron said the deployment of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle along with eight warships and two helicopter carriers is strictly “defensive” and designed to protect French nationals and regional partners without making France a direct party to the conflict.

The deployment comes after a French soldier was killed in a drone attack near Irbil in northern Iraq, where French forces are training Iraqi units as part of a multinational counterterrorism mission.

France has also strengthened its air presence in the United Arab Emirates, doubling the number of Rafale fighter jets at its base in Abu Dhabi to 12. French authorities said Rafale jets have intercepted drones targeting the UAE since the conflict began.

France maintains defense agreements with Gulf states including Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE, and also has forces deployed in Jordan and Iraq. Officials say the naval presence will help respond to emergencies and facilitate the evacuation of French nationals if needed. France has more than 400,000 citizens living in the Middle East, including large communities in Israel and the UAE.

Alongside the military buildup, Macron has intensified diplomatic outreach. He has spoken with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump, calling for a diplomatic solution to the conflict and urging de-escalation.

France is also attempting to mediate tensions in Lebanon, where clashes between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah have intensified. Paris, which maintains troops in the UN peacekeeping mission there, has sent humanitarian aid and continues to support the Lebanese military.

The Israeli military said it struck the Zrarieh Bridge spanning the Litani River early on Friday, asserting that the crossing was being used by Hezbollah fighters to move between northern and southern parts of Lebanon.

The military did not provide evidence for the claim.The strike appeared to be the first instance in the current conflict in which Israel publicly acknowledged targeting civilian infrastructure in Lebanon.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Lebanon would face increasing consequences unless Hezbollah was disarmed.

“The Lebanese government will pay increasing costs through damage to infrastructure and loss of territory,” Katz told senior military officers during a briefing, according to a statement from his office.

Israeli troops have been pushing deeper into southern Lebanon as part of the military campaign, while air strikes have continued to hit districts in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Lebanese officials say the expanding conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of people across the country.

Lebanon’s interior minister said authorities were struggling to accommodate the influx of civilians seeking refuge in Beirut, where many displaced residents have gathered after fleeing combat zones in the south.

The minister said government resources were insufficient to manage the scale of displacement, with large numbers of people arriving in the capital in recent days.

Lebanese authorities estimate that around 800,000 people have been forced from their homes since the fighting intensified.

Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, said the Lebanese population had been drawn into a broader regional conflict.

Speaking about the humanitarian impact of the fighting, Guterres said the Lebanese people had been “dragged into” the war as hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah expanded.

The escalation in Lebanon is unfolding as the wider regional conflict continues to intensify, raising concerns among international officials about the growing humanitarian and security consequences across the Middle East.

The attack marked the first Israeli strike to hit the heart of Beirut since hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group resumed last week, widening the regional confrontation linked to the broader U.S.-Israel war with Iran.Israel’s military said the strike targeted key commanders belonging to the Lebanon Corps of Iran’s elite Quds Force, a unit within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), although it did not identify the individuals it believed were present at the site.“The commanders of the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps operated to advance terror attacks against the state of Israel and its civilians, while operating simultaneously for the IRGC in Iran,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

Strike hits central Beirut building.The strike struck an apartment within the Ramada hotel complex located in central Beirut, an area that had not been targeted since fighting resumed between Israel and Hezbollah.The building was housing displaced civilians who had fled fighting in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, areas that have experienced repeated Israeli air strikes during the past week.Following the attack, witnesses said people were seen leaving the hotel amid concerns that additional strikes could follow.There was no immediate confirmation from Lebanese authorities regarding the identities of those killed or whether the victims included the Iranian commanders Israel said it had targeted.

Israel said the operation was aimed at disrupting activities by Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon. The Quds Force oversees Iran’s foreign military operations and maintains close ties with allied groups across the region, including Hezbollah.The Israeli military has intensified strikes against Iranian-linked targets as the regional conflict expands.Last week, Israel said it had killed Daoud Ali Zadeh, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon, during a strike in Tehran. Israel said he had been involved in coordinating military activities linked to Iranian operations in the region.Lebanon drawn deeper into conflictLebanon has increasingly been pulled into the escalating confrontation between Israel and Iran.The latest phase of hostilities intensified on Monday when Hezbollah fired rockets and drones into Israel, according to Israeli officials. Hezbollah is backed by Iran and has been one of Tehran’s key regional allies.Israel responded with a wave of strikes across southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as locations near Beirut.The fighting has raised concerns about a broader regional escalation as the U.S.-Israel campaign against Iranian targets continues and allied armed groups across the Middle East become increasingly involved.The strike in central Beirut underscores the expanding geographic scope of the conflict and the growing risk that urban centres beyond traditional front lines could become targets as the confrontation deepens.