EU urges immediate halt to Israel-Hezbollah war

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to Lebanon on Sunday, as the militant group claimed a wave of cross-border attacks.

Earlier this week, US special envoy Amos Hochstein said in Lebanon that a truce deal was "within our grasp", and then headed to Israel for talks with officials there.

War between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in late September, nearly a year after the Iran-backed group began launching strikes in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas following its October 7 attack.

The conflict has killed at least 3,670 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September.

In the Lebanese capital, Borrell held talks with parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation efforts on behalf of ally Hezbollah.

"We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701," Borrell said after his meeting with Berri.

Under Resolution 1701, which ended the last Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006, only Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be allowed to maintain a presence in the south, where Hezbollah holds sway.

It also called for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon.

"Back in September I came and was still hoping we could prevent a full-fledged war of Israel attacking Lebanon. Two months later Lebanon is on the brink of collapse," Borrell said.

He said the European Union was ready to provide 200 million euros ($208 million) to help bolster the Lebanese armed forces.

Hezbollah is one of the world's best-armed non-state forces, and was the only group in Lebanon that refused to surrender its arsenal after the 1975-1990 civil war.

The Lebanese army maintains a presence across the country's territory, but it is Hezbollah that holds sway in key areas along the border with Israel.

While the Lebanese army is not engaged in the Israel-Hezbollah war, it has suffered multiple fatalities among its ranks.

On Sunday, the army said an Israeli strike on a military post killed one soldier and wounded 18 others.

Also on Sunday, Hezbollah said it launched attacks using missiles and drones directed at a naval base in southern Israel and a "military target" in Tel Aviv.

It said it had "launched, for the first time, an aerial attack using a swarm of strike drones on the Ashdod naval base".