Beirut, Lebanon - Israel Jets Fly Over Lebanon Despite French Appeal

Beirut, Lebanon - Israeli warplanes swooped low over Lebanon, a day after they rejected a call by France's defense minister to halt violations of its neighbor's airspace.

The planes conducted mock raids over much of southern Lebanon and residents saw them flying low over the capital Beirut, but neither Hezbollah guerrillas nor the Lebanese army fired anti-aircraft rounds at them as they have done in previous years. The Lebanese government and the United Nations say the over flights, violate both the latest truce and the terms of Israel's earlier pullout.

Israel said its combat planes would continue to fly over southern Lebanon to ensure that weapons are not smuggled into southern Lebanon from Syria to resupply Hezbollah.

At the United Nations, French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie called Israel's violations of Lebanese airspace "extremely dangerous" and said they should stop immediately. She said an Israeli aircraft may mistakenly be seen by U.N. troops as having hostile intent, possibly triggering a "very serious incident".