NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul urgently calls on Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon to return to the agreed ceasefire. “The further advance of the Israeli army in southern Lebanon is a cause for great concern,” said the CDU politician on the sidelines of his visit to the United Nations (UN) in the US east coast metropolis of New York. Israel must protect civilians and civilian infrastructure in its action against Hezbollah.
“Any further escalation further exacerbates the already tense situation and causes new refugee movements within Lebanon,” warned Wadephul. The further advance of the Israeli army in the south of Lebanon is a reaction to ongoing attacks by Hezbollah on the north of Israel, which must finally stop. Of course Israel has legitimate security interests. But if civilians pay the price of a military escalation and parts of Lebanon become permanently uninhabitable, that will not make Israel’s neighborhood safer in the long term.
The key to stabilizing Lebanon lies in strengthening the Lebanese state. This means that the Lebanese government must take decisive action against Hezbollah and exercise its monopoly on violence across its entire territory, explained Wadephul. The talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington, in which another round is planned, are “the right channel to achieve success.” Hezbollah must not continue to torpedo this peace process. Israel had recently advanced further into Lebanon and captured a strategically important fortress. The Lebanese state itself is not a party to the conflict./bk/DP/he