The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday it is checking French allegations that Israel Air Force F-15s flew in a threatening dive-bomb formation over French peacekeepers in southern Lebanon nine days ago.

A spokeswoman said, however, that the military was for the moment not commenting on the incident.

The French Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned Israel's ambassador to France, Daniel Shek, for an explanation.

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French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said Israel Air Force overflights of Lebanon nearly caused a "catastrophe" last month, with French peacekeeping troops seconds away from firing on IAF jets.

The incident took place October 31, when a squadron of IAF warplanes nose-dived over French peacekeepers' positions in southern Lebanon, Alliot-Marie told lawmakers at France's lower house of parliament Wednesday night.

The planes were "clearly in attack position," she said, in comments broadcast on RTL radio Thursday. French troops responded by readying an anti-aircraft missile, and were seconds away from firing on the warplanes, she said.

"Our troops barely avoided a catastrophe," Alliot-Marie said. "Under these circumstances, our troops find themselves in a position where they have to fire in legitimate self-defense."

It was not immediately clear why the French troops decided not to fire.

French officials have regularly complained that Israel's overflights of Lebanon are counter to UN Security Council resolution 1701, which included the cease-fire that brought an end to 34 days of fighting between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas on August 14.

The resolution calls for both sides to respect the UN boundary known as the Blue Line drawn after Israel ended its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000.

The UN peacekeeping chief in Lebanon, Major General Alain Pelligrini of France, said last month that the flyovers violated the cease-fire resolution and warned that force might be used to stop the incursions.