European Union says it is increasingly concerned about rising tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border

The EU is “increasingly concerned about rising tensions along the Blue Line, increasing destruction and forced displacement of civilians on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border,” EU spokesman Peter Stano said. high community representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell.

In accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1701, the EU called on all actors to exercise restraint, avoid new tensions and participate in international diplomatic efforts, undertaken in particular by France and the United States.

“No one can gain from a broader regional conflict. A de-escalation of the situation would contribute significantly to the resolution of the broader conflict in the Middle East,” Stano said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the war cabinet tonight to evaluate the latest events on the northern border with Lebanon, where the impact of a Hezbollah rocket started at least one fire.

Hostilities on the divide began on October 8, the day after the war broke out in the Gaza Strip and as a show of solidarity from Hezbollah, close to Iran as is Hamas, the main person responsible for the attack against Israel on October 7. October, in which around 1,200 people died and around two hundred were kidnapped.

The exchange of fire – with some 300 Hezbollah militiamen dead and civilians on both sides of the border – has intensified greatly in recent weeks, raising fears of an open war between the parties as already occurred in 2006.

The two ultra-Orthodox parties that are part of the Israeli government affirmed on Tuesday that they support the truce proposal unveiled on Friday by US President Joe Biden to end the war in Gaza.

The Shass (Sephardic) party “fully supports the proposal” for the hostages kidnapped by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on October 7 to return home, as stated in a statement.

“Shass supports the proposal and provides the Prime Minister [israelí Benjamin Netanyahu] and to the war cabinet for its support to resist all pressures, conclude this agreement and save the lives of many of our brothers and sisters,” stressed the party, the first partner of the Israeli leader in his government coalition.

The head of the other ultra-Orthodox party, United Torah Judaism (Ashkenazi), also expressed his support for the phased plan announced by Biden.

“Today I told the representatives of the hostage families that (…) we will support any proposal that leads to the release of hostages,” wrote Yitzhak Goldknopf on the social network X.

The position of these two parties contrasts with that of Netanyahu’s far-right allies. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened on Saturday to resign if the prime minister accepted the truce plan with Hamas.

Without these far-right parties, Netanyahu’s coalition would lose its majority in Parliament.

The plan announced by Biden, proposed according to him by Israel, provides for a six-week ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from the densely populated areas of Gaza, as well as the exchange of some hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

The war broke out on October 7, when Islamist commandos killed 1,194 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data.

The militants also kidnapped 251 people. Israel claims that 120 remain captives in Gaza, of whom 41 have reportedly died.

In response, Israel vowed to “annihilate” Hamas and launched an air and ground offensive that has so far left 36,550 dead in Gaza, according to the Hamas government’s Health Ministry.