Egypt calls for de-escalation as tension spikes between Hezbollah, Israel

By Ibrahim Khazen
CAIRO (AA) – Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called Sunday for de-escalating tension between Hezbollah and Israel amid an exchange of cross-border attacks between the two sides.
The call came during a meeting between the top Egyptian diplomat and his Japanese counterpart Yoko Kamikawa in Tokyo, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
Israeli warplanes launched over 40 airstrikes on southern Lebanon early Sunday, the most severe attack since cross-border attacks with Hezbollah began on Oct. 8, 2023. The Israeli army claimed that the strikes aimed to prevent an impending Hezbollah attack.
The Lebanese group, for its part, said it launched hundreds of missiles and drones deep into Israel in the “first phase” of its response to last month’s assassination of its commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut.
Abdelatty underlined the need to make every possible effort to prevent further escalation in the region and warned of the risk of sliding into a regional war with grave consequences.
The two ministers agreed on the importance of intensifying efforts in cooperation with international and regional partners to avoid a regional war that would threaten regional security and stability, the statement said.
They also called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the release of hostages, and unconditional access to humanitarian and medical aid to the Palestinian enclave to put an end to the catastrophic humanitarian suffering in the territory.
Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah has been engaged in daily exchanges of fire with the Israeli army across the Lebanese-Israeli border, resulting in hundreds of casualties, mostly on the Lebanese side.
The escalation comes against the backdrop of a brutal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which killed over 40,300 Palestinians since last Oct. 7 after a Hamas attack. The military campaign has reduced much of the territory to rubble and left most of the people homeless, hungry and prone to disease.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi