Türkiye strongly condemns Israel's attacks on Lebanon

ISTANBUL

Türkiye on Thursday “strongly condemned” Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, which have displaced approximately 1 million people.

In a statement on the Turkish Foreign Ministry website, Ankara said that these attacks “constitute a grave violation of international humanitarian law.”

“It is clear that expansionist Israel aims to further deepen regional instability. The Netanyahu government must not be allowed to continue its destructive practices in Lebanon as it has done in Gaza,” the ministry said in the statement.

Türkiye will continue to “stand in solidarity” with the Lebanese people and state in the face of “Israel's attacks that threaten Lebanon's territorial integrity and sovereignty,” the ministry added.

On March 2, Lebanese group Hezbollah began attacking Israeli military sites in response to repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the killing of Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli joint strike.

Israel retaliated by launching a military campaign in Lebanon, carrying out airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and areas in the south and east of the country, and on March 3 began a limited ground incursion in southern Lebanon.

According to Lebanon’s Health Minister Rakan Nasser El Din, the attacks have resulted in 634 deaths, including 91 children, and 1,586 injuries.