Pakistan condemns Israeli aggression against Lebanon after airstrikes kill over 500

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday condemned Israel’s latest military actions against Lebanon, its foreign office said, a day after Israeli airstrikes killed more than 500 people.
After nearly 12 months of war against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza on its southern border, Israel is shifting its focus to the northern frontier, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas.
The Israeli military carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah on Monday which Lebanese authorities said killed 558 people, including 50 children and 94 women. A further 1,835 were wounded, they said, and tens of thousands more have fled for safety.
“This act of aggression against the Republic of Lebanon is a grave violation of the UN Charter and international law,” Pakistan’ foreign office said in a statement. “It is a dangerous escalation that has further endangered peace and security in an already volatile region.”
The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has raised fears that the United States, Israel’s close ally, and regional power Iran, which has proxies across the Middle East — Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis and armed groups in Iraq — will be sucked into a wider war.
Hezbollah last week suffered heavy losses when thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members exploded in the worst security breach in its history.
Pakistan stood in solidarity with the people of Lebanon and for their right to live in peace and security, the foreign office said, reaffirming Islamabad’s full support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“We call upon the international community to take urgent steps to hold Israel to account for its alarming adventurism in the region and its acts of aggression and genocide,” it added.