“We rely on Israel’s efforts in favor of the security of UN missions – as well as bilateral missions – aimed at maintaining peace in Lebanon and the security of international organizations located in the region.”

This is what Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez emphasize in a joint written statement adopted on the sidelines of the Cyprus Med9 meeting.

“We also ask for an immediate ceasefire and full implementation of resolution 1701 by all sides because it is the only way to allow the people of Israel and Lebanon to return to their homes,” the three leaders added.

In the statement, at the same time, the heads of the three European countries express their condemnation and disapproval and underline that the attacks against the peacekeepers in Lebanon “constitute a serious violation of Israel’s obligations, based on Security Council resolution 1701 and international humanitarian law.” . “There is no justification for these attacks and they should stop immediately”, emphasize Giorgia Meloni, Emmanuel Macron and Pedro Sanchez.

Attacks against UNIFIL in Lebanon ‘unacceptable’, say Spanish and Italian prime ministers

The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, today called for “an end to any kind of violence” against the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), calling the new episode that occurred today, in which two peacekeepers were injured, “totally unacceptable”.

“What happened at the UNIFIL headquarters in Lebanon (…) is completely unacceptable,” Sanchez said at the Summit of Mediterranean Member States of the European Union (Med9) in Cyprus.

The same characterization was given by the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, whose country has deployed around 1,000 soldiers as part of this mission. “The general staff of UNIFIL and two Italian bases were hit by the fire (…) of the Israeli forces (…) It is not acceptable and violates what was determined” by the UN resolutions, Meloni said.