UN appeals for ‘maximum restraint’ following Israeli strikes in Beirut

“As we await further clarity on the circumstances, we again urge the parties to exercise maximum restraint and call on all concerned to avoid any further escalation,”UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a note to correspondents that evening.

He called on all parties to comply with their obligations under international law; to urgently commit to the full implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701, adopted in response to the 2006 war between Hizbollah and Israel, and to immediately return to a cessation of hostilities.

The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, also appealed for “calm to prevail” in a statement expressing deep concern over the strikes, noting that they occurred in the densely populated southern suburb of the capital.

She underscored that “there is no such thing as a military solution”, and called on both Israel and Lebanon “to avail of all diplomatic avenues to pursue a return to the cessation of hostilities and to recommit to the implementation of resolution 1701 (2006).”

The air strikes came in the wake of a deadly rocket attack on a football field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria on Saturday. Twelve civilians, mainly children and teenagers, were killed.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres and other senior officials condemned the attack.