Turkey urges end to Israeli attacks ‘before Lebanon collapses’: minister

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called Thursday for an end to Israel’s bombardment of neighbouring Lebanon “before it collapses”. “The government of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is at the heart of every crisis in the region,” he told a news conference with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul. “Israel, pursuing an expansionist policy, is exploiting the current war to bring its dirty war into Lebanon,” he added.

“Israel’s attacks must end before the Lebanese state collapses,” he said, warning that if that were to happen, it would “profoundly affect the entire region” especially the neighbouring countries. The mass displacement of people in Lebanon as “absolutely unacceptable”, he said. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel, which kept up its strikes in Lebanon even before the war despite a 2024 ceasefire, has since launched air raids and sent ground troops into border areas. The violence has killed more than 687 people, according to Lebanese authorities, while more than 800,000 people have registered as displaced.