Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib stated on Thursday that Israeli attacks are threatening Lebanon's existence and called for urgent international intervention to prevent the situation from escalating.
Bou Habib called for a ceasefire during the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
"Lebanon is currently enduring a crisis which is threatening its very existence. The future of our people and our prosperity are imperiled. This is a situation that requires international intervention on an urgent basis before the situation spirals out of control, with a domino effect, making this crisis impossible to contain," he said.
The foreign minister also condemned a series of recent attacks by Israel on Hezbollah members in Lebanon, including the incidents involving explosions of communication devices such as pagers and walkie-talkies, resulting in numerous casualties, including children and women.
Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border have escalated since October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack the previous day. Israel retaliated with heavy artillery fire toward southern Lebanon.
The Israel-Hezbollah tensions have grown even worse after the deadly back-to-back attacks targeting Hezbollah members in Lebanon -- with pagers simultaneously exploding across the country on September 17, 2024, then walkie-talkies detonating in a similar fashion the next day. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attacks, while Israel has made no response to the charge.
At least 37 people, including children, have been killed in the attacks. Thousands more were injured -- many maimed and in critical condition after communications devices exploded in their pockets or in their face.
Lebanese FM condemns Israeli attacks, calls for int'l intervention
Greece is concerned that the recent escalation in the Middle East situation may trigger a new refugee surge to Europe, Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos said Thursday in Athens.
In an interview with China Media Group (CMG), Panagiotopoulos said Greece is paying close attention to the recent near-daily exchanges of fire between Israel and the Hezbollah group in Lebanon. He expressed the Greek government's deep concerns over a potential Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon, which may risk dragging the entire Middle East into war and result in the exodus of illegal migrants and refugees from conflict-hit areas.
Greece, as the main point of entry for refugees fleeing into Europe, may bear the brunt of a potential migrant wave, he said.
"The dramatic turn of events in our wider region, like the escalation in Lebanon for example, would probably result in much bigger flows of refugees fleeing war zones. So, obviously, Greece will be affected," Panagiotopoulos said.
Should a refugee influx occur, the minister said, all members of the European Union should share the burdening of taking in the asylum seekers and set up a new mechanism to tackle the problem.
"There is a considerable increase [in] migration flows. That's for sure. I estimated that the flows are about 50 percent higher this year. As a transit country, as an entrance country to the European Union, all countries like Greece should engage in more comprehensive dialog in order to solve the problem. We have to act as one and not in unilateral ways," he said.
From the beginning of the year to Sept. 22, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, had registered a total of 38,452 migrants and refugees in Greece - with nearly 90 percent of them arriving by sea, almost reaching the number reported in the entire year of 2023.
Greece concerned over refugee influx from in Middle East amid escalating situation: minister
