The leaders of both countries are calling for the ceasefire to include Lebanon.

On Wednesday, Spanish President Pedro Sanchez condemned Israel’s latest strikes on Lebanon as a violation of international law and called for the country to be included in the current ceasefire arrangements.

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In a post on social media platform X, Sanchez said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had launched “the harshest attack against Lebanon since the beginning of the offensive,” adding that such actions reflected an “intolerable disregard for life and international law.”

He urged that Lebanon be included in the ceasefire framework to prevent further regional escalation, and called on the international community to clearly condemn what he described as a new breach of international law.

“There must be no impunity for these criminal acts,” Sanchez said, also urging the European Union to suspend its Association Agreement with Israel.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on the same day that Israel’s continued military operations in Lebanon under the current ceasefire context were “unacceptable.”

“All fronts must cease fire, and that includes Lebanon,” Albares said, stressing the need to avoid further escalation in the region.

Spain has taken an increasingly critical stance on developments in the Middle East in recent months, repeatedly calling for de-escalation and adherence to international law.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned Israel’s latest strikes on Lebanon, stressing that “Lebanon must be fully covered by” the Middle East ceasefire.

France condemns “in the strongest possible terms” Israel’s “indiscriminate strikes” in Lebanon on Wednesday that caused “a very high number of civilian casualties,” Macron said on X after speaking by phone with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

These strikes “pose a direct threat to the sustainability of the ceasefire that has just been reached. Lebanon must be fully covered by it,” Macron noted.

So far, the Israeli strike on Wednesday across Lebanon has killed at least 254 people and injured 1,165 others, with densely populated neighborhoods in Beirut, according to the Lebanese Civil Defense.

Macron also spoke with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian and U.S. President Donald Trump Wednesday after the announcement of the ceasefire.

“I told both of them that their decision to accept a ceasefire was the best possible one. I expressed my hope that the ceasefire will be fully respected by each of the belligerents, across all areas of confrontation, including in Lebanon,” Macron said.

A two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran took effect early Wednesday. Israel claimed it would comply with the truce, but insisted the agreement does not cover Lebanon, although Pakistan, the mediator of the deal, said it does apply to Lebanon. 

teleSUR/ JF

Source: Xinhua

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