European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell (L) meets with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday. Borrell is on a five-day visit to the Middle East, during which he will stop in Jordan, Cyprus and Lebanon.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Sunday that Israel and Hezbollah must be pressured to accept the U.S. truce proposal to end their raging war, warning that Lebanon is on the verge of collapse and pledging $208 million to the Lebanese Army.
Borrel, the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, called for an immediate and simultaneous ceasefire by all parties and the full implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. Advertisement
“We must pressure the Israeli government and maintain the pressure on Hezbollah to accept the U.S. proposal for a ceasefire,” he said during a news conference after meeting with Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Nabij Mikati in Beirut.
Progress has been made in the negotiations led by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein with Berri in Beirut this week, observers said. The outcome of Hochstein’s visit to Tel Aviv remained unknown. Advertisement
“At that moment, we are pending a concrete and definitive answer from the Israeli government,” Borrell said, expressing hope that the agreement reached on the last days with Hochstein will be finally implemented and a cease-fire achieved.
Resolution 1701 calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah and its withdrawal to the north of the Litani River, the pullout of Israeli forces from Lebanese territories, and Army and U.N. peacekeeping troops serving as the only force in charge of security in the southern border area.
Israel has been trying to impose new conditions to secure more enforcement mechanisms and have a free hand in Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah’s rearming and funding — conditions strongly rejected by Lebanon for violating its sovereignty.
Borrell emphasized the re-establishment of “Lebanese full sovereignty by air, land and sea,” and highlighted the “key role” the 10,000-strong UNIFIL force is playing “in an increasingly challenging environment.”
Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire across the border since the militant group opened a “support front” for Gaza in October 2023.
The conflict descended into war when Israel expanded its attacks Sept. 17 with an unprecedented, highly sophisticated pager and walkie-talkie attack against Hezbollah members, killing a dozen people and wounding more than 3,000. Advertisement
The peak was the assassination 10 days later of Nasrallah in his bunker in Beirut’s southern suburbs, along with several of his military commanders.
Hezbollah was further weakened when Israel stepped up its strikes by killing more of its officials and destroying its headquarters, missiles launchers and bases.
The relentless Israeli air and ground bombardment led to large destruction of villages, property, hospitals and schools in Beirut’s southern suburbs and in southern and eastern Lebanon.
The EU top official warned that Lebanon “is on the brink of collapse,” with the large destruction in south Lebanon and Israeli airstrikes killing more than 3,670 people and wounding 15,413 — “three times more” than in the Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006.
Borrell disclosed that the EU was “ready to devote 200 million euros to the Lebanese armed forces” to help it take charge of security in the country, especially in south Lebanon following the Israeli withdrawal.
He warned that the Middle East is “putting the international community at a test,” saying that the “price of no peace in the Middle East has become exorbitant, unaffordable.”
