Lebanese premier welcomes international call for temporary cease-fire with Israel

ISTANBUL

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday welcomed a joint call for a temporary cease-fire between Israel and the Hezbollah group amid escalating cross-border attacks.

Late on Wednesday, the US, EU, and nine other nations urged the two sides to agree to a 21-day cease-fire.

In his speech at a Security Council session, Mikati highlighted the need for "joint efforts by all (UN) Security Council members to pressure on Israel for an immediate cease-fire at all fronts," referring to both Gaza and Lebanon.

Mikati stressed that the responsibility to implement the cease-fire and international resolutions rested with Israel, according to the Lebanese official news agency NNA.

The joint statement by the US and EU, as well as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, described the situation between Israel and Lebanon since Oct. 8 as "intolerable."

The situation "presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation," they said. "This is in nobody's interest, neither of the people of Israel nor of the people of Lebanon."

"Thus we call for an immediate 21-day cease-fire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement consistent with UNSCR (UN Security Council Resolution) 1701, and the implementation of UNSCR 2735 regarding a cease-fire in Gaza," it said.

In an earlier statement, US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said the exchange of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border threatens a much broader conflict and harm to civilians.

Regional tensions have escalated amid Israel’s deadly airstrikes on Lebanon since early Monday that have killed nearly 610 people and injured more than 2,000, according to Lebanese health authorities.

The Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,500 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar