US, EU, others urge Israel to avoid escalation in Lebanon
The international community urges restraint as Israel launches a massive attack on Hezbollah, with Egypt calling for UN intervention and the US opposing escalation.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUpdated: SEPTEMBER 24, 2024 19:42Smoke rises after an explosion was heard in Beirut, Lebanon August 4, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/ISSAM ABDALLAH)
Various countries have come out with statements urging Israel to avoid escalation in Lebanon following the IDF’s largest attack on Hezbollah since 2006.
According to the IDF, over 1,600 terror targets were attacked throughout Monday, as Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets across northern and central Israel, including areas within the West Bank. Furthermore, the IDF has officially announced the name of its operation against Hezbollah on Israel's northern front: Northern Arrows.
Middle Eastern nations call for intervention
On Monday night, Reuters reported that Egypt's foreign ministry called on the United Nations Security Council to intervene immediately to stop the escalation in Lebanon.
Shortly after, Saudi state media expressed concern over the situation in Lebanon, urging both the IDF and Hezbollah to exercise restraint.
EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF Josep Borrell joins US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a meeting of G7 foreign ministers during NATO’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington, in July. (credit: KEN CEDENO/REUTERS)
World superpowers urge against escalation
“The escalation between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah is almost a full-fledged war,” Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said in a conversation with reporters at the UNGA.
"If this is not a war situation, I don't know what you would call it."
Additionally, Reuters reported that a US State Department official does not support any escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.
"I can't recall, at least in recent memory, a period in which an escalation or intensification led to a fundamental de-escalation and profound stabilization of the situation," the official said. "We obviously do not believe that a ground invasion of Lebanon is going to contribute to reducing tensions in the region."
In addition to the US, the United Kingdom's Prime Minister Keir Starmer also called for restraint between Israel and Hezbollah during a Labor Party's conference in Liverpool on Tuesday.
"I call again for restraint and de-escalation at the border between Israel and Lebanon in the Middle East today. I call again for all parties to step back from the brink," Starmer said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday that the killing of women and children in Lebanon was "extraordinarily concerning," and called on Israel and Hezbollah to deescalate their conflict. "The violence needs to stop. The women, the children killed in Lebanon is extraordinarily concerning," Trudeau told reporters in New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly.
"We need to make sure there is deescalation, both by Israel and Hezbollah. We need to protect civilian lives. We need to make sure we're moving towards peace and stability in the entire region," Trudeau added.
