JERUSALEM, Oct. 22, 2006- Israel said Sunday that its combat planes would continue to fly over Lebanon despite a call by the French defense minister to halt the air incursions. "As long as attempts to smuggle arms into Lebanon persist, the legitimacy of Israeli overflights increases," the Israeli defense minister, Amir Peretz, told the cabinet at its weekly session. "We have no intention of stopping the flights."

Israeli jets have flown over Lebanon since the war between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas ended Aug. 14 in a UN-sponsored cease-fire and the expanded deployment of international peacekeepers, including a French contingent, in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese government and the UN force say the Israeli flights violate the cease-fire resolution. But Israel says the missions are necessary to help ensure that arms are not smuggled into southern Lebanon from Syria to resupply Hezbollah.

At the United Nations on Friday, the French defense minister, Michèle Alliot- Marie, called Israel's violations of Lebanese airspace "extremely dangerous" and said they should stop permanently.

French peacekeepers in southern Lebanon are equipped with anti-aircraft missiles, and the French commander of the expanded Unifil force in the area has said his men may at some point resort to force to prevent Israeli overflights.

But the commander, Major General Alain Pellegrini, has also told reporters that to do so would require the United Nations to rewrite the rules of engagement for his troops.

Also on Sunday, a cabinet member conceded that Israel had dropped phosphorous bombs on Hezbollah guerrilla targets during their war in Lebanon this summer, confirming Lebanese allegations for the first time.

But the minister, Yaakov Edri, who serves a liaison with the Parliament, said he was speaking on behalf of Peretz, said the weapons were used only against military targets.

The Geneva Conventions ban using white phosphorous against civilians or civilian areas.