Israel’s actions in Lebanon only create a “spiral of violence” and risk plunging the entire Middle East into a new bloody conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a UN Security Council meeting on Friday. Moscow “resolutely condemns” the Israeli attacks and seeks to de-escalate the situation, he added.
Lavrov’s words came as the Israel Defense Force launched a massive airstrike on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital of Beirut. West Jerusalem stated that its operation had targeted the main headquarters of Hezbollah – the Lebanon-based Shia militia – located beneath a civilian neighborhood. On Saturday, Israel also claimed that the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had been killed in the attack. Several media outlets had previously reported that he had survived.
Israel’s strikes “blatantly violate the sovereignty of… Lebanon,” Lavrov said in his remarks. “Indiscriminate attacks that lead to civilian casualties are absolutely unacceptable.” The Russian minister also called for an “immediately stop” to the “spiral of violence” before the situation gets out of hand. He also stated that Israel would not be able to achieve its stated goals with such attacks.
“The path of war chosen by the West Jerusalem will not help it bring internally displaced people to the north of the country and will not bring security to the Israeli-Lebanese border area,” he said, adding that Israel failed to achieve its goals in the 2006 Lebanon war despite using “cutting-edge equipment and weapons.”
The Israeli bombings have already killed at least 558 people in Lebanon, including 50 children and 94 women, Lavrov said, adding that more than 1,600 were injured and “tens of thousands had to leave their homes.”
Israel and Hezbollah have sporadically exchanged fire over the past year as the latter has supported the Palestinian cause in light of West Jerusalem's military operation against Hamas.
West Jerusalem drastically escalated its campaign against Hezbollah earlier this month, wounding thousands in a sabotage operation targeting the group’s handheld communication devices and subsequently bombarding southern Lebanon with airstrikes since last week. According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, at least 1,300 people have been killed in the Israeli attacks.
“The Middle East is once again on the brink of a big war, which certain forces seem to be willing to [provoke],” Lavrov said, commenting on the developments. Moscow calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and is undertaking “active diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation and prevent the most catastrophic scenario,” he added.