Lebanon urges Pakistan to help end Israeli strikes

PM vows to advance peace efforts in call with Lebanese counterpart

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday held a telephone conversation with Prime Minister of Lebanon Nawaf Salam and strongly condemned Israel's ongoing aggression against Lebanon.

He also expressed condolences over the loss of thousands of precious lives in these hostilities.

The prime minister said that Pakistan was engaged in sincere efforts for regional peace and it was in this spirit that the peace talks between Iran and the US were being convened.

While thanking Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for his peace efforts, the Prime Minister of Lebanon sought Pakistan's support for bringing an immediate end to the attacks targeting Lebanon and its people.

Both leaders agreed to remain in contact.

Talks with Bahrain, Qatar and Austria

Meanwhile, in separate calls, the prime minister thanked Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa for his support in Pakistan's mediation efforts and discussed the importance of upholding the ceasefire with Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker. He also spoke with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, expressing hope that "through concerted efforts, peace would return soon to the entire region".

Earlier, the Foreign Office also strongly condemned Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon, cautioning that they undermine global efforts for regional peace.

"Pakistan condemns, in the strongest terms, the ongoing Israeli aggression against Lebanon, resulting in the loss of innocent lives and the widespread destruction of infrastructure," the FO said in a statement.

"The Israeli actions undermine international efforts to establish peace and stability in the region and constitute a blatant violation of international law and fundamental humanitarian principles," it warned.

Pakistan called upon the international community to "take urgent steps to end Israeli aggression against Lebanon".

It reiterated its "unwavering solidarity with the government and people of Lebanon during this difficult time", adding that it supported Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as its peace and stability.

Lebanon declared a national day of mourning on Thursday after Israeli strikes pummelled the country.

The Lebanese prime minister's office said Thursday would be "a national day of mourning for the martyrs and wounded of the Israeli attacks that targeted hundreds of innocent, defenceless civilians", ordering the closure of public administrations and the lowering of flags.

Hours later, Hezbollah said it had fired rockets towards Israel in response to what it called a violation of the US-Iran truce.

There had been conflicting messages about whether the fighting in Lebanon was included in the truce, with Israel insisting that it was not.

Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had ordered his ministers to begin direct talks with Lebanon, pushing for Hezbollah's disarmament amid mounting concern that its ongoing strikes could cause the fragile US-Iran truce to unravel.

A Lebanese government official told AFP shortly after Netanyahu's announcement that Beirut "wants a ceasefire" declared before starting any negotiations with Israel, a day after deadly strikes across the country.

At least 300 people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the bombardment on Wednesday, the Lebanese health ministry said, while Hezbollah said it was engaged in close-quarters combat against Israeli forces on the ground on Thursday in the south Lebanon town of Bint Jbeil.

Netanyahu's order for direct negotiations with Lebanon's government was focused on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peace, according to a statement from his office, but he offered no immediate respite from the bombardment.

"Lebanon wants a ceasefire before starting negotiations," said the Lebanese government official, who has knowledge of the matter and requested anonymity.

Even as Netanyahu spoke, Israel's military issued a new evacuation order for Beirut's southern suburbs, just a day after the wave of strikes.

"In light of Lebanon's repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed the cabinet yesterday to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible," Netanyahu said.

"Negotiations will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peace relations between Israel and Lebanon."

Separately, US President Trump confirmed to NBC News that he had asked Netanyahu to pull back on the strikes in Lebanon to help ensure the success of the upcoming negotiations.

"I spoke with Bibi (Netanyahu) and he's going to low-key it. I just think we have to be sort of a little more low-key," Trump said.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said that the group rejected direct negotiations with Israel and that the Lebanese government should demand a ceasefire as a precondition before any further steps are taken.

Israeli assault on Lebanon, which the UN described as "carnage", has been condemned worldwide.

Brussels, Moscow and Ankara demanded that the US-Iran two-week ceasefire be extended to Lebanon.

"We view the situation in southern Lebanon with particular concern," Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, echoing statements from Paris and London.

"The severity with which Israel is waging war there could cause the peace process as a whole to fail, and that must not be allowed to happen," he warned.

For their part, Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran sees Lebanon as an "inseparable part of the ceasefire" and President Masoud Pezeshkian said Israel's strikes rendered "meaningless" talks with US envoys planned for the end of the week in Islamabad.

"We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with force, precision and determination," Netanyahu said, in a social media post.

"Our message is clear: anyone who acts against Israeli civilians, we will strike them. We will continue to hit Hezbollah wherever necessary."

The day after the strikes, rescuers were still hard at work in the rubble of a building hit in the heart of a seafront residential neighbourhood of Beirut.

Half the building had collapsed, some rooms sliced in two by the deadly strike, a dining room and a water fountain exposed.

The other half of the building is nothing but a heap of stone and twisted metal, a school report card here, a law course from Saint Joseph University there, a child's stuffed toy.

According to the civil defence, several bodies are still under the rubble.

(With input from Agencies)