The United Nations on Friday issued a fresh plea to Israel to end Lebanese airspace violations after French UN anti-aircraft batteries made preparations to respond to the overflights.
In Lebanon, a spokesman of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Milos Strugar, earlier on Friday said that "the anti-aircraft unit of the (French) battalion took initial preparatory steps to respond to these actions."
"UNIFIL observed and reported 14 Israeli air violations this morning, on November 17, 2006, and 11 of these violations occurred in the area of operation of the French battalion with UNIFIL," he added.
At UN headquarters, spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that Friday's incident "served as a reminder, at a tense moment in Lebanon, of why such overflights must cease."
"The overflights are dangerous because of the chance that events could spin out of control. In this case, the action taken on the ground was simply a precaution," he said, while refusing to speculate about the motives for the Israeli air violations.
He recalled that the French commander of UNIFIL, General Alain Pellegrini, "strongly protested to the Israeli authorities and asked them to cease these actions which are unacceptable and in violation of (UN) Resolution 1701."
UNIFIL is securing southern Lebanon after a bloody month of air strikes by the Israeli military this summer aimed at crushing Hizbullah militants and rocket attacks on Israel by the group.
Dujarric said UNIFIL had worked diligently with Israeli and Lebanese forces to secure implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that brought an end to the month-long war between Israel and Hizbullah guerrillas in south Lebanon in August.
Asked about Friday's overflights, an Israeli military spokesman in Jerusalem said only: "We don't elaborate on aerial activity."
On October 31, French UNIFIL forces came within seconds of firing at Israeli aircraft when they overflew UN positions in southern Lebanon, sparking a complaint from the French government against the overflights.
But French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said on Monday that Israeli warplanes had stopped buzzing French troops in southern Lebanon, following two close incidents in the area.
Spurning harsh international criticism, Israel has vowed to continue the reconnaissance overflights, saying they were needed to monitor alleged arms smuggling by Hizbullah.