Lebanese politicians urgently called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop its advance into Lebanese territory on Tuesday, as Israeli troops crossed into southern Lebanon in an operation targeting Hezbollah outposts.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, warned on Tuesday that his country was facing “one of the most dangerous phases of its history,” urging the United Nations for emergency funding for civilians impacted by the conflict.
Imran Riza, the U.N’s deputy special coordinator in Lebanon, said the country was seeking $426 million in U.N. assistance.
“As violence escalates, we call on the global community to provide this much needed support and to ensure protection of civilians,” Riza said. “Without sufficient resources, humanitarians risk leaving the population of an entire country without the support they urgently require.”
Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon over the last two weeks, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The U.N. says around 1 million people — nearly a fifth of the country — have been displaced from their homes while fleeing this bombardment.
Israel’s offensive follows days of intensifying fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.
The conflict entered a dramatic new phase over the weekend, following Israel’s killing of Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as several other top officials.
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And now Israel says it is running a “limited” incursion of “targeted ground raids” in southern Lebanon aimed at Hezbollah militants that pose a threat to communities in northern Israel. Israeli authorities say about 63,000 Israelis remain displaced from the border area with Lebanon due to Hezbollah rocket fire.
Israel used similar wording about limited raids at the start of its invasion of the Gaza Strip following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, and the Israeli invasion of Gaza has since expanded and continued to grind on one year later. So Israel's latest comments have raised skepticism in Lebanon about the actual scope of the operation.
“This is not an incursion, this is an invasion,” Najat Aoun Saliba, a Lebanese member of parliament, told NPR. “We've been invaded by another country and we have to call on the international community to call it as such.”
Saliba urged world leaders to call on Israel to put an immediate end to its military offensive in Lebanon.
“We definitely keep saying violence cannot stop violence. We need diplomatic efforts to stop the violence,” Saliba said. “We don't want Lebanon to also turn into another Gaza.”
Israel and Hezbollah began trading attacks back and forth across the Israel-Lebanon border after the Oct. 7 assault on Israel led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
In support of Hamas, Hezbollah says it will continue firing rockets into northern Israel until there's a cease-fire in Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
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