Leaders of nine southern European Union (EU) countries, meeting in the Cypriot coastal city of Paphos, called on Friday for a ceasefire in the Middle East and expressed their concern about the escalation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah. “We call for an immediate ceasefire along the Blue Line and the rapid delivery of humanitarian aid to Lebanon,” the Lebanese governments said in a joint statement. Cyprus, Croatia, Slovenia, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Malta and Portugal.
The 120-kilometer Blue Line, located in southern Lebanon, was established by the UN in 2000 as a blue line. “withdrawal demarcation” of Israeli troops.
Cyprus, an island country located 250 kilometers from Lebanon, hosted the MED9 summit, attended by the heads of state or government of its nine member countries. King Abdullah II of Jordan and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also attended the meeting, which focused on the situation in the Middle East and immigration.
Joint statement also condemns rocket fire by Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah towards Israel, as well as the recent missile attack from Iran and terrorist attacks of Hamas on October 7, 2023. The leaders expressed support for the United Nations Peacekeepers for Lebanon (UNIFIL) force deployed in Lebanon, which has been the target of attacks by Israel.
Italy and France summoned the Israeli ambassadors in Rome and Paris respectively on Thursday and this Friday, while Spain did the same with the charge d’affaires of the Israeli embassy in Madrid, to protest against Israeli attacks on UN forces.
Regarding Gaza, European leaders deplored the high number of civilian casualties and called for immediate application of resolution 2735 of the Security Council, which calls for a ceasefire and the safe delivery of humanitarian aid. French President Emmanuel Macron deemed “unacceptable” Israel’s deliberate attacks on UNIFIL. “It is unacceptable that UNIFIL troops were deliberately attacked by Israeli troops,” Macron said in his speech after the meeting of European leaders.
The French president also stressed that his decision to suspend arms exports to the region “is not a call to disarm Israel against the threats weighing on this country and its friendly people”, but to avoid increased destabilization in the region.
The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, condemned as “unacceptable” attacks against UNIFIL. In addition, he announced that during the G7 Defense Summit next week in Naples, “we are considering organizing a joint initiative” to “strengthen the Lebanese Armed Forces”but without giving details.
Sánchez calls for review of EU-Israel deal The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, joined the condemnations and described as “absolutely unacceptable and totally rejectable” what happened at the UNIFIL headquarters, where peacekeepers were injured by Israeli fire .
Sánchez urged the European Commission to act consistently and stressed that if Israel does not respect international law and human rights, the principles on which its EU-Israel Association Agreement is based, “There is only one way: review this agreement.” “The agreements must be respected in their letter and their spirit and this is the basis of our credibility before the world,” added the head of the Spanish government.
In a joint statement issued by the Spanish, French and Italian governments, these three countries showed their outrage over Israeli attacks on UNIFIL which they called “unjustifiable” and a “serious violation” of Israel’s obligations and international humanitarian law.
“These attacks constitute a serious violation of Israel’s obligations under United Nations Resolution 1701 and international humanitarian law,” the statement said, adding that the attacks “must stop immediately.” With this resolution, the UN Security Council agreed in 2006 to detach troops international peace agreements in Lebanon.
The current escalation of war in the region began a year ago, when the Islamist group Hamas murdered 1,200 people in terrorist attacks and kidnapped more than 240 on Israeli territory. Israel’s response was a military offensive in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, which has so far left more than 42,000 dead and 96,000 injured, according to data from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.
Added to this are the clashes between the Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Israeli armed forces, which launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon on October 1 and bombed Beirut several times.
