Nations call for de-escalation as Lebanon anticipates Israeli response

Countries on Monday called for de-escalation as Lebanon anticipates an Israeli response to the weekend strike on the occupied Golan Heights, which killed 12 children and that it blamed on Hezbollah.

The strike over the weekend has raised fears of a wider conflict in the region, where tensions have intensified due to Israel’s war in Gaza, which began more than nine months ago.

Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani has discussed preventing a new war in the Middle East with his Israeli and Lebanese counterparts, Israel Katz and Bou Habib, he said on Monday.

“Breaking the spiral of violence is possible,” he wrote on social media platform X.

He said the Italian government was committed to peace and stability, including through Italy’s presence in the United Nations’ UNIFIL contingent.

Britain said Monday that it welcomed the Lebanese government’s call for a cessation of all violence after the attack, Britain’s foreign minister said following a call with Lebanon’s prime minister.

“I spoke to [Lebanon’s] Prime Minister @Najib_Mikati today to express my concern at escalating tension and welcomed the Government of Lebanon’s statement urging for cessation of all violence,” David Lammy wrote on X on Monday.

“We both agreed that widening of conflict in the region is in nobody’s interest.”

For its part, the German government has called on all parties to the Middle East conflict, in particular Iran, to prevent an escalation, a spokesperson said on Monday.

Berlin “assumes with certainty” that the deadly attack on a football field in the Golan Heights was conducted by Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said during a regular press conference.

Recent actions by the Yemen-based Houthi militia, also backed by Iran, had also contributed significantly to instability in the region in recent weeks, he added.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has talked to several people including her Lebanese counterpart in an effort to “mitigate the situation and prevent it from escalating,” the spokesperson said.

German citizens in Lebanon, of which there are estimated to be about 1,300, are “urgently advised” to leave the country while still possible, the spokesperson said.

“We are very concerned about the situation of the Germans on the ground and are preparing what needs to be prepared,” he added.

With Reuters