Egypt's foreign minister says Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire “a priority,” warns of full-scale war

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 13 (UPI) - Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Wednesday that an unconditional cease-fire between Lebanon and Israel is "the first priority," calling for intensifying international and Arab efforts to prevent dragging the region into a large-scale war.

Abdelatty's comments came at a time Israeli airstrikes targeted Beirut's southern suburbs for the second consecutive day, destroying more buildings.

The Israeli attacks also targeted houses and apartments in other Lebanese areas, including Aramoun and Baalchmay in Mount Lebanon and Joun in the Chouf mountains, killing 78 people and wounding 122 in less than 24 hours.

Several families perished during the airstrikes, according to witnesses and media reports.

The new casualty toll raised the total number of killed to 3,365 and wounded to 14,344 since October 2023, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The remaining inhabitants of the southern suburbs have been surprised by Israeli orders to evacuate the area on Tuesday and Wednesday morning after attacked formerly came at night.

Israel claimed that its intensified air strikes that continued during the night targeted several buildings used by Hezbollah.

The Israeli Army said Tuesday that it has destroyed most of Hezbollah's weapons manufacturing and storage facilities, which it claimed had been hidden under civilian locations in the southern suburbs.

The last round of violence came amid conflicting reports about progress concerning cease-fire proposals pushed forward as a last attempt by the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to end the war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Abdelatty, Egypt's foreign minister who concluded a one-day visit to Beirut, said the "first priority" is to stop the Israeli "aggression" and achieve a cease-fire "without any conditions whatever they are."

"We are continuing our contacts with the U.S., Europeans, our Arab brothers and all international parties, including China and Russia, so as to have an immediate cease-fire," he said.

Abdelatty, who met with Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun, warned that the war should not continue until Jan. 20 when President -elect Donald Trump takes office "and leave this time for Israel to continue its aggression."

He called for intensifying efforts and increasing pressures on Israel to reach a cease-fire so as not to pave the way for "dragging the region to a full-scale war that doesn't serve the interest of any side."

His talks in Beirut, he said, focused on the complete implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.

The resolution calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah and for the Army and U.N. peacekeeping troops to be the only force in charge of security in the southern border area.

Abdelatty said Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, and Gen. Aoun confirmed the readiness to immediately deploy the Lebanese Army in the border of southern Lebanon. He said the implementation of Resolution 1701 cannot be selective and rejected any "settlement that could harm Lebanon's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity."

He was referring to Israeli conditions to impose more enforcement mechanisms, even at the expense of Lebanon's sovereignty, to prevent the rearming and funding of the militant group - conditions rejected by Beirut.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that the Israeli Army will continue fighting and there will be no cease-fire until all of his country's goals are achieved: disarming Hezbollah, pushing it beyond the Litani River and allowing residents of northern Israel to return safely to their homes.

According to The Times of Israel English website, the disarming of Hezbollah has not been included in Israel's war aims in Lebanon to this stage, noting that it was unclear if the statement was a slip of the tongue by Katz.

Hezbollah, for its part, rejected Israel's conditions and vowed to continue fighting. The Iran-backed group has been battling Israeli troops advancing across the border and kept on launching missiles and drones into Israel.

"Our people have no option but to continue the resistance and steadfast against Israel's brutality," said Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah deputy in the parliament.

Fadlallah emphasized that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "will not take in politics what he failed to achieve by war. Our country will not bow to the enemy's conditions."

The Israeli Army announced Wednesday evening that six of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon, Israel's Ynet English website reported.