Foreign ministries call for Lebanon's inclusion in cease-fire

BEIRUT — As Israel continues its indiscriminate bombardment of Lebanese territory in its war against Hezbollah, and despite the truce agreed on April 8 between Tehran and Washington, several Western foreign ministries have condemned Israeli attacks on civilians and called for Lebanon to be included in the agreement.

Pakistan, which has taken on a mediating role, and Iran maintain that the truce agreement includes Lebanon, while Israel and the United States argue that it does not.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated Wednesday on X that halting Israeli attacks on Lebanon is among Tehran's conditions for the cease-fire, echoing a position already expressed by President Massoud Pezeshkian.

In a surge of violence not limited to Hezbollah targets, as Israel claims, the Israeli army carried out a hundred strikes within minutes across several regions of the country, including residential areas where no warning had been issued. The death toll—still provisional—has reached into the hundreds, mainly in Beirut, while entire buildings have been razed.

‘Intolerable’ strikes

"Hezbollah has dragged Lebanon into the war, but Israel's right to defend itself does not justify inflicting such massive destruction," wrote European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on X, adding, "Israel’s actions are putting the cease-fire between the United States and Iran under serious pressure," and, that "the truce with Iran should be extended to Lebanon."

"Israeli strikes killed hundreds of people last night, making it difficult to argue that such forceful actions are self-defense," she also said, before calling on Hezbollah to disarm "as it had committed to." "The European Union supports Lebanon's efforts to disarm Hezbollah," she concluded.

Speaking on France Inter, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot judged that the Israeli strikes — which continued Thursday — are "intolerable" and assured that France was "fully" joining in the national day of mourning declared by the Lebanese government the previous day.

"We firmly condemn these massive strikes that, in ten minutes, killed more than 250 people, in addition to the 1,500 victims of this conflict initiated by Hezbollah against Israel on March 2," he said. "And these attacks are all the more intolerable as they undermine the temporary cease-fire found yesterday between the United States and Iran," he added.

Although Hezbollah did trigger the resumption of hostilities, Israel had been carrying out near-daily strikes on Lebanese territory prior to March 2, in violation of the truce reached at the end of November 2024 that had ended the previous round of fighting.

"Yes, Iran must stop terrorizing Israel through Hezbollah, which must be definitively disarmed and surrender its weapons to the Lebanese state. But no, Lebanon must not be the scapegoat of a government upset because a cease-fire was found between the United States and Iran," Barrot said.

"Today is a national day of mourning in Lebanon and we fully join in," the minister added, considering that "it is not in Israel’s interest to pound Lebanon."

The previous day, French President Emmanuel Macron had also expressed the same position.

In addition to France, the United Kingdom also indicated it "strongly" wants that the cease-fire between Washington and Tehran be "extended" to Lebanon, according to British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who told Sky News she was "deeply concerned" by the deadly Israeli attacks in the country on Wednesday.

Also on Thursday, Qatar's emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, expressed his solidarity with Lebanon during a conversation with President Joseph Aoun, conveying "his willingness to provide assistance for anything that could help put an end to the military escalation, particularly concerning the inclusion of Lebanon in the cease-fire agreement between the United States of America and Iran," according to a statement from the Lebanese presidency.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides also contacted Joseph Aoun to “condemn” the ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon, express his “solidarity,” and offer medical, humanitarian and emergency assistance.

‘This must stop’

On Wednesday evening, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot denounced the Israeli shelling of Beirut, which he witnessed during a visit to meet Lebanon’s top officials.

"We were at the embassy with my delegation, just a few hundred meters from the place where the missiles struck. This must stop. The cease-fire between the United States, Israel and Iran must include Lebanon!" Prévot wrote on X.

He accused Israel of launching, "without any prior warning, one of the largest strikes since the start of hostilities" on Feb. 28. "Beirut cannot become a new Gaza," he said, adding that "the Israeli ground advance — coupled with the systematic destruction of villages, bridges and infrastructure — de facto creates a buffer zone that threatens Lebanon’s sovereignty."

Also on Wednesday, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares called it "unacceptable" that Israel continues fighting in Lebanon. "It is unacceptable that Israel’s war, the invasion by Israel of a sovereign country like Lebanon, goes on," Albares said on radio RNE, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the truce in Iran as "good news" on X. "Cease-fires are always good news," he added, "but the Spanish government is not going to applaud those who set the world on fire because they show up with a bucket."

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also contacted President Aoun to condemn the attacks. Germany, in more cautious terms, called on Israel to limit its offensive in Lebanon to “legitimate defense,” according to a spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry.