The European Union on Saturday condemned Israel’s repeated attacks on southern Lebanon and asked it to respect a ceasefire with Hezbollah.
Israel claims its strikes are intended to stop the Iran-backed group from rebuilding after 14 months of fighting last year in which its senior leaders were killed and much of its arsenal destroyed.
Israel carried out further attacks on Saturday, killing two people travelling in a vehicle in the Bekaa region and injuring seven in a vehicle in Bint Jbeil, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.
“The EU calls on Israel to cease all actions that violate resolution 1701 and the ceasefire agreement reached a year ago in November 2024,” the EU’s foreign affairs spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.
“At the same time, we urge all Lebanese actors, and especially Hezbollah, to refrain from any measures or responses that could further inflame the situation,” he added.
“Focus by all parties must be on preserving the ceasefire and the progress achieved so far.”
The Israeli army on Thursday ordered residents of five southern villages to evacuate the area before launching strikes on what it claimed to be Hezbollah military infrastructure.
The Lebanese army accused Israel of seeking to undermine Lebanon’s stability after Thursday’s strikes, and to “prevent the completion of the army’s deployment” in the south of the country under the terms of the ceasefire.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has condemned the Israeli strikes, as has Iran, which on Friday called them “savage” attacks and appealed for the international community to intervene.
Escalating strikes on southern Lebanon in recent weeks, coupled with increasingly aggressive Israeli rhetoric, have left many Lebanese people fearing the prospect of a full-scale war.
Lebanon and Israel are technically still in a state of war, but all the recent armed conflicts with Israel were fought by Hezbollah, not the Lebanese military.
Hezbollah was the only movement in Lebanon that refused to disarm after the 1975-1990 civil war, first claiming it had a duty to liberate territory occupied by Israel, and then to continue defending the country.