Israel has “no excuse” for refusing the ceasefire in Lebanon negotiated by the United States and France, said Tuesday the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell.
“Let us hope that today the government of Benjamin Netanyahu will approve the ceasefire agreement proposed by the United States and France,” he said on the sidelines of a G7 meeting near Rome .
“No more excuses, no more additional requests, stop this fighting, stop killing people, and let’s start thinking about peace,” he insisted.
Israel’s security cabinet is due to vote Tuesday on a ceasefire in the war against Lebanese Hezbollah, with the United States saying an agreement was “close.”
“We think we have reached the point where we are close” to an agreement, declared John Kirby, the spokesperson for the National Security Council of the White House, while emphasizing that nothing was yet certain and calling for the caution.
“Let’s put pressure on Israel to approve the ceasefire proposal today,” Mr. Borrell said on Tuesday, expressing concern about having “heard statements from extremist ministers in the Israeli government wanting to continue the bombings “.
“A ceasefire is absolutely necessary if we want hundreds of thousands of displaced people to be able to return home,” he said, deploring that “all of southern Lebanon has been destroyed.”
On October 8, 2023, Hezbollah opened a front against Israel in support of Hamas, its Palestinian ally, target of a destructive offensive in Gaza launched by Israel in response to an unprecedented attack carried out by the Islamist movement against its territory on October 7, 2023. october.
