Leaders of nine European Union member states in the Mediterranean on Friday called for an immediate ceasefire after a sharp escalation in conflict between Israel and forces of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Portugal's Minister of State and Foreign Affairs Paulo Rangel, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Malta's Prime Minister Robert Abela, Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob, Jordan's King Abdullah and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen pose for a family photo on the day of the Euro-Mediterranean Summit (EU-MED9) in a resort near Paphos, Cyprus, October 11, 2024. Reuters/Yiannis Kourtoglou
Leaders of nine European Union member states in the Mediterranean on Friday called for an immediate ceasefire after a sharp escalation in conflict between Israel and forces of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
« Hezbollah‘s firing of rockets and other projectiles into Israeli territory since 8th October 2023 has to stop. The sovereignty of both Israel and Lebanon has to be preserved and guaranteed, and any operations in violation of it must stop. Any further military intervention would dramatically aggravate the situation. Reaffirming our commitment to the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, we call on all actors to exercise restraint and engage in mediating efforts to defuse tensions, whereas we will continue advocating for further support to Lebanon and its people, including to the Lebanese Armed Forces which are called to play a critical stabilizing role. We also support the fundamental stabilization role of UNIFIL in Southern Lebanon. We firmly condemn the Iranian missile attack against Israel. We call on all actors to act responsibly and refrain from further military actions. We reiterate our condemnation in the strongest terms of the brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel and we deplore all civilian loss of life, in particular the high toll on children and women », a statement from EU leaders attending a summit, known as MED9, read after meeting in Cyprus.
By Anton Divert
The past few days have unfolded like a geopolitical drama of historic proportions in Lebanon, where Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shia militia long considered untouchable, appears to be teetering on the edge of a seismic shift.
Israel has not ruled out an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities in the coming months despite President Donald Trump telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. was for now unwilling to support such a move, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
In a defiant speech on Friday evening, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, insisted that the group “will not allow anyone to disarm it,” rejecting growing internal calls for the Lebanese state to reclaim exclusive control over the country’s weapons.
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