Concern is growing in the European Union over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon and the unprecedented increase in violence, which on Monday alone caused 558 deaths, according to Lebanese authorities. The Union, which has maintained a divided position on Israel and its right to defend itself – something that has been very visible since the response to the Hamas attacks on October 7 that led to the war in Gaza – is now holding its breath in the face of Israeli attacks in Lebanon, determined to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure while preparing for a possible ground invasion of the country. France has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in Lebanon.
The High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Josep Borrell, warned early this morning that the “worst scenarios” are materializing and has urged international leaders to mediate to “avoid an all-out war.” “This situation is extremely dangerous and worrying. I can say that we are almost in a full-blown war,” Borrell said in New York, where he is participating these days in the UN General Assembly. The head of European diplomacy met on Monday with the majority of EU foreign ministers at a meeting in which, among other things, the exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah was discussed.
“The path to peace begins with a single step: the ceasefire in Gaza,” Borrell insisted, Efe reports. “We continue to call for an immediate ceasefire on the Blue Line.” [la demarcación entre el Líbano e Israel establecida por la ONU en el año 2000 para determinar si Israel se había retirado del Líbano] and in Gaza, they are no different, they are intertwined: what is happening in Gaza is triggering other war scenarios,” added the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Policy.
France, which has troops stationed in Lebanon as part of the UN peacekeeping force, has called for a halt to the fighting and expressed deep alarm at the deaths of hundreds of people in Israeli air strikes on Monday. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot is calling for the issue to be discussed at an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
Germany, one of the EU countries closest to Israel, has also warned that the escalation must stop. “The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah must not turn into a regional conflagration,” the German government warned in a statement, in which it spoke of “terrible and long-term consequences.”
Knowing what’s happening outside means understanding what’s going to happen inside, so don’t miss anything.
KEEP READING
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, for his part, called for a “stop” to the war. “You cannot bomb indiscriminately when there are innocent civilian victims, dozens of children have died in these bombings, almost 500 dead and more than a thousand wounded; [son] “unbearable figures,” Albares said on TVE, where he warned that the risk of escalation is very real.
The UN has warned of the exodus of tens of thousands of people forced from their homes by escalating fighting in the south of the country. “The methods and means of warfare being used raise very serious concerns about whether this is in compliance with international humanitarian law,” a UN spokeswoman said in Geneva.
