Several countries issued statements on Monday over Israel’s recent airstrikes on various areas in Lebanon. Israel has been engaging in a series of heavy attacks on Lebanon since the past week, notably detonating communication devices of Hezbollah operatives and elimating the group’s military commanders.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani called for an urgent meeting of Arab leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly after Israel intensified its strikes on Lebanon.
Iraq “calls on and works to convene an urgent meeting of the leaders of Arab delegations… to review the repercussions of the Zionist (Israeli) aggression on our peaceful people in Lebanon and to work jointly to stop its criminal behavior,” Sudani said in a statement.
Egypt’s foreign ministry called on “international powers and the United Nations Security Council to intervene immediately” to stop “the dangerous Israeli escalation in Lebanon”.
Israeli air strikes killed 356 people, including 24 children, and displaced thousands in Lebanon on Monday, the health ministry said, in the deadliest cross-border escalation since Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip began in October.
Cairo, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, has repeatedly warned against Israeli regional escalation, which it said Monday “threatens to drag the region into a comprehensive regional war”.
Egypt again expressed “solidarity” with Lebanon and affirmed its “total rejection of any violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territory”.
Thousands of Lebanese families have been displaced from the country’s south after the Israeli military issued warnings to move away from militant targets and vowed to carry out more strikes — the first such warning to people in Lebanon since the war in Gaza started.
World powers have implored Israel and Hezbollah, who have been engaged in months of cross-border clashes in solidarity with Palestinian ally Hamas, to pull back from the brink of all-out war.
Egypt said it “continues its efforts towards a ceasefire in Gaza” in an attempt to restore calm.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “gravely alarmed” by civilian casualties in Lebanon, his spokesman said.
“The secretary-general is gravely alarmed by the escalating situation… and the large number of civilian casualties, including children and women,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
President Joe Biden said that the United States was trying to calm the situation in Lebanon after Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds killed at least 274 people, including children.
“I’ve been briefed on the latest developments in Israel and Lebanon. My team is in constant contact with their counterparts, and we’re working to de-escalate in a way that allows people to return home safely,” Biden said as he held talks with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the White House.
With AFP
