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Diplomatic efforts for ceasefire with Israel under way: Lebanon

Pope Francis leads chorus for immediate end to Israeli strikes

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US President Joe Biden says "It's time for a ceasefire" as he leaves St Edmond's Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on September 28, 2024. — AFP

By Reuters

Published: Sun 29 Sep 2024, 4:54 PM

Lebanon's Information Minister Ziad Makary said during a cabinet session on Sunday that diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire with Israel were under way.

"It is certain that the Lebanese government wants a ceasefire, and everyone knows that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu went to New York based on the premise of a ceasefire, but the decision was made to assassinate Nasrallah," Makary said.

The death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was confirmed on Saturday, heightening tensions between Lebanon and Israel after months of conflict along their shared border.

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"Diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire are ongoing. The Prime Minister is not falling short, but the matter is not that easy," he added.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he had spoken with Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday.

"We agreed on the need for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the bloodshed. A diplomatic solution is the only way to restore security and stability for the Lebanese and Israeli people," Lammy said in a statement on social media platform X.

Earlier in the week Lammy told the United Nations' General Assembly that there should be an immediate ceasefire between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel and that a full-blown war was not in the interest of the people in the region.

Britain's foreign ministry has advised its nationals to leave Lebanon as soon as possible.

Asked by reporters if an Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon was inevitable, US President Joe Biden said on Saturday that it was time for a ceasefire.

"It's time for a ceasefire," Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Asked if the United States would respond to missile attacks on US warships in the Red Sea, Biden said: "We're responding."

Pope Francis called for an immediate ceasefire in "martyred" Lebanon and the wider Middle East on Saturday as he ended a three-day visit to Belgium.

"I call on all parties to immediately cease fire in Lebanon, Gaza, the rest of Palestine and Israel," the Argentinian pontiff, 87, told an open-air mass in Brussels, as Israel continued to target the Hezbollah armed group in Lebanon.

France on Saturday called on Israel to stop striking Lebanon, as the killing of the head of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group sparked fears of a widening war in the Middle East.

Speaking with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Paris wanted "an immediate halt to Israeli strikes in Lebanon" and was "opposed to any ground operation", the foreign ministry said in a statement.

France also "calls on other actors, notably Hezbollah and Iran, to abstain from any action that could lead to additional destabilisation and regional conflagration".

Reuters

Published: Sun 29 Sep 2024, 4:54 PM

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