'Continued retribution' in Middle East will not bring peace, warns Australia

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) - Australia on Sunday warned that "continued retribution" in the Middle East will not bring peace to the region, fearing that violence in Lebanon could escalate.

In an interview with Sky News, Canberra's top diplomat Penny Wong said she was concerned about escalating violence in Lebanon.

Her comments referred to the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike on Lebanon's capital Beirut Friday night.

Responding to a question if she supported Israel's alleged use of pagers to conduct deadly attacks, Wong said: "The continued retribution ... will not bring peace and it will not bring security, which is why Australia and others, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have called for a ceasefire in Lebanon and diplomacy to try and resolve this."

"Because we have seen so many people, so many people die."

Wong reiterated her call for Australians to flee Lebanon as soon as they can.

Earlier, addressing the UN General Assembly late Friday in New York, Wong said Israel must comply with the binding orders of the International Court of Justice to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance at scale in Gaza.

Wong said that despite the General Assembly resolution passing 77 years, the Palestinian state still does not exist.