EU condemns Israeli airstrikes on South Lebanon

The European Union on Saturday condemned recent Israeli airstrikes on South Lebanon and called for full respect of the ceasefire agreement signed in November 2024 between Israel and Hezbollah.

EU foreign affairs spokesperson Anwar Al-Anouni said the bloc “urges Israel to cease all actions that violate U.N. Resolution 1701 and the ceasefire agreement reached a year ago.”

“At the same time, we call on all Lebanese parties, particularly Hezbollah, to refrain from any move or reaction that could further escalate tensions,” he added. “All sides must work to preserve the ceasefire and the progress achieved so far.”

The Israeli army announced on Thursday that it carried out a series of strikes targeting what it described as Hezbollah “infrastructure and weapons depots” in South Lebanon. The attacks came just hours after the group rejected what it called efforts to “drag Lebanon into political negotiations with Israel,” amid growing pressure to disarm.

Following evacuation warnings to residents in five towns south of the Litani River, the Israeli army said it had struck “terrorist infrastructure and weapons depots belonging to Hezbollah’s Radwan forces,” the group’s elite unit.

The Lebanese army condemned the raids, saying they were aimed at “preventing the completion” of its troop deployment under the ceasefire that ended last year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah — an agreement stipulating that only state security forces hold weapons in southern Lebanon.


AFP