By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) – Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan and six other countries condemned the killings of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon on Tuesday while calling “for an urgent end to hostilities” in the country where Israeli attacks have killed over 2,000 people since March.
“Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Sierra Leone, Switzerland and the United Kingdom remain deeply concerned by the worsening humanitarian situation and displacement crisis in Lebanon,” the countries said in a joint statement without directly mentioning U.S. ally Israel or Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
The statement comes after the deaths of three Indonesian peacekeepers last month. The U.N. has said preliminary findings from its probe showed one was killed by an Israeli tank projectile and two by an improvised explosive device most likely placed by Hezbollah.
Israel intensified air attacks on Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on March 2, three days into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Israel has since widened a ground invasion into Lebanon’s south, ordering hundreds of thousands of Lebanese to flee villages. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 2,000 people and forced 1.2 million from their homes, according to Lebanese authorities.
Hezbollah missile fire has mainly targeted towns near Israel’s northern border but has also been aimed at major cities. Two Israelis and 13 soldiers have been killed since March 2, Israel says.
“We condemn in the strongest terms actions that have killed UN peacekeepers and significantly increased the risks faced by humanitarian personnel in southern Lebanon,” the 10 countries said in the joint statement, which only noted Israel in the context of the ceasefire in the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran.
“We welcome the ceasefire agreed between the United States, Israel and Iran. We call for an urgent end to hostilities in Lebanon.”
The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with strikes on Israel and Gulf states with U.S. bases. U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran have killed thousands and displaced millions. A fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran still has a week to run.
Iran says Israel’s war in Lebanon must be included in any agreement to end the wider conflict. Israel has ruled out discussing a ceasefire in Lebanon and demanded that Beirut disarm Hezbollah.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh; additional reporting by Christian Martinez; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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