The European Union on Saturday condemned the attacks by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon and called on Israel to respect the ceasefire with the militant movement Hezbollah. This was reported by the AFP agency, writes TASR.
Israel launched new strikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday, claiming it was targeting targets of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, which it accused of re-arming.
Appeals to preserve the ceasefire
“The EU calls on Israel to stop all actions in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and the ceasefire agreed a year ago, in November 2024,” European diplomacy spokesman Anouar El Anouni said on Saturday.
“At the same time, we call on all Lebanese parties, especially Hezbollah, to refrain from any actions or reactions that could further escalate the situation,” appealed the EU spokesman, who emphasized that all parties to the conflict should focus on preserving the ceasefire and the progress achieved so far.
The Israeli army warned the residents
Before the aforementioned attacks, the Israeli army called on the residents of four southern Lebanese villages to leave their homes – saying that it plans to hit Hezbollah’s military infrastructure.
The Lebanese army accused Israel of trying to destabilize Lebanon and prevent the deployment of the Lebanese army in accordance with the ceasefire agreement with Thursday’s strikes. Lebanese President Joseph Awn also condemned the attacks, as did Iran, which on Friday called them “barbaric” and called on the international community to intervene.
History of the conflict between Lebanon and Israel
Lebanon and Israel are technically still at war, but all recent armed conflicts with Israel have been fought by the Hezbollah movement, not the Lebanese army.
Hezbollah remained the only Lebanese movement to refuse to lay down its arms after the 1975–90 civil war. Initially, Hezbollah argued the need to liberate the territories occupied by Israel, later the defense of the country against Israel.
