PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron has further strained tense relations with Israel with a comment referring o the creation of the Israeli state, a verbal jab that was rapidly denounced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as distorting history.

Macron has sought to take a more uncompromising stance on the conflicts in the Middle East after Israel launched an offensive against targets of the Shiite group Hezbollah in Lebanon, a former French protectorate.

The French leader said last week that stopping the export of weapons used by Israel in Lebanon and in its war against the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip was the only way to stop the two conflicts.

France, which is home to Europe’s largest Jewish population, has repeatedly urged a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, but has also increasingly criticised Israel over the heavy civilian toll in the conflicts.

Paris has also denounced Israeli fire against the 10,000 peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon, which includes a French contingent of around 700 troops.

In a new sign of the tensions between the countries, organisers of the major Euronaval defence show outside Paris next month said that following a decision of the French government, no Israeli stands or exhibits would be allowed at the salon.