Nordic countries call for restraint amid fears of escalation in Israel-Hezbollah conflict

By Leila Nezirevic

LONDON (AA) – Three Scandinavian countries have called for urgent de-escalation in the Middle East, calling on Israel and Hezbollah to exercise restraint to avoid a new cycle of war in the region.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide expressed deep concerns about the “fragile and serious” situation in the Middle East, saying an escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah could be a turning point in the conflict.

“The spiral of violence must stop,” Eide said in a statement released late Sunday.

He urged all parties to do everything they can to protect civilians under humanitarian law, saying the responsibility rests with regional leaders.

“I repeat our strong call to all parties, including those who support the various sides in this conflict, to do what they can to exercise restraint and avoid this developing into a major regional war,” Eide stressed.

“First and foremost, we need an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will help reduce the level of tension in the entire region.

“I repeat the call to all parties to take responsibility, reduce the level of conflict and exercise the greatest possible restraint. It is important that this comes across in a diplomatic track,” he said.

In a separate statement issued late Sunday on X, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen called for “urgent de-escalation.”

“A new cycle of war in the Middle East has to be avoided,” she said.

On Saturday, a rocket attack on the Druze village of Majdal Shams on the occupied Golan Heights killed 12 children and injured several others while they were on the football pitch.

Immediately after, Tel Aviv vowed swift retaliation against Hezbollah, blaming it for the attack that Hezbollah vehemently denied.

According to local media, the Lebanese government has asked the US to urge Israel to exercise restraint, warning that a significant attack on Lebanon could spark a regional war.

Earlier on Monday, Israel’s army used drones to strike deep inside Lebanon.

Lebanese state media said Israeli forces killed two people and injured a child in the first attack, and two more were injured in a subsequent strike in southern Lebanon.

“An escalation now of retaliatory attacks could have consequences for the security situation in the entire Middle East. For a long time, I have warned against what we are now seeing,” Eide said.

“There is too much suffering in Israel, Gaza and the region. I call on all parties to contribute to de-escalate the situation,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen wrote on X late Sunday.

Since Tel Aviv launched its brutal war on Oct. 7, over 39,363 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, while more than 90,923 others are injured, according to Gaza’s local health authorities.

Nearly 300 days into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.