Rescue workers evacuate the wounded under the rubble of a building in the Tallet al-Khayat neighborhood of central Beirut, bombed by Israel, April 8, 2026. (Creidit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
"This must stop." Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot denounced the shelling of Beirut by the Israeli army that he witnessed on Wednesday, during a visit in support of Lebanon's top political leaders.
"We were at the embassy with my delegation, only a few hundred meters from where the missiles hit. This must stop. The ceasefire between the United States, Israel and Iran must include Lebanon!" wrote Mr. Prévot on the X network.
He accused Israel of having launched on Lebanon, "without any prior warning, one of the most massive strikes since the beginning of hostilities" on Feb. 28 between the United States and Israel on the one hand, Iran and Hezbollah on the other.
The strikes on Wednesday in the early afternoon caused scenes of panic in the Lebanese capital, according to AFP journalists.
Lebanese authorities deplored over 100 people killed in the country, as the Israeli army targeted what it alleged were Hezbollah command posts and military infrastructure throughout Lebanon.
"Beirut cannot become a new Gaza," Maxime Prévot said earlier as he announced the various stages of his visit, including that of a shelter run by the Lebanese Red Cross to accommodate hundreds of displaced civilians.
"The Israeli land advance — coupled with the systematic destruction of villages, bridges and infrastructure – is drawing a de facto buffer zone that threatens Lebanon's sovereignty," he said.
Belgium will offer several million euros in solidarity with Lebanon, as part of U.N. emergency aid mechanisms.
