Eighteen European countries on Thursday urged Israel and Hezbollah to stop fighting as their latest conflict reached one month and with fears over Israeli plans to control part of southern Lebanon post-war.
"Israeli military operations in Lebanon and Hezbollah's attacks must cease," the foreign ministers of the countries including Italy, Spain, Belgium, Poland and Ireland said in a joint statement.
"We urge Israel to fully respect Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and call on all parties, both Hezbollah and Israel, to halt military action," the statement said.
Lebanon was sucked into the Middle East war after Tehran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the US-Israeli attack that killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel has responded with massive strikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion.
Lebanese authorities say the hostilities have so far killed more than 1,300 people and displaced more than one million others, mostly from the south and Beirut's southern suburbs.
Israel had already been violating a 2024 ceasefire deal with near-daily strikes on parts of Lebanon and the occupation of several border hills in the south.
The European ministers said they were "appalled by the dramatic situation" in Lebanon and called for an end to "unjustified and unacceptable" attacks on civilian targets such as healthcare personnel, aid workers and journalists.
They pledged to continue providing humanitarian relief for the Lebanese population and called on the international community "to mobilise further" to help the country.
Earlier this week, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the country's military would occupy a swathe of southern Lebanon even after the current war against Hezbollah has ended.
The comments have raised fears for the area's fate following the last Israeli occupation that lasted nearly two decades.
The European nations "strongly encouraged" Israel to hold direct negotiations with the Lebanese authorities and said reform efforts by Lebanon's government "must be supported instead of being undermined".
"Efforts to support stabilisation in Lebanon are instrumental to lasting peace and security in the Middle East. De-escalation is urgently needed. Diplomacy must prevail," they said.
The countries include: Spain, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Moldova, Norway, Poland, San Marino, Slovenia and Sweden.
Separately, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher on Thursday expressed concern that the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon could be long-lasting, potentially resulting in a "fresh occupation."
"One depressing impression I had, and I think it's shared by so many people in Lebanon - there was a sense of despair and despondency and anxiety," Fletcher told a press conference via videolink from Syria , after a brief trip to Lebanon.
"There's a sense that this is likely to be a long-running conflict, and that even if we reach some sort of moment where the actors declare victory on the US-Israel-Iran conflict, that that may not bring to an end to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict anytime soon."
He said one of his major worries was "a real danger of a fresh occupation, of a fresh occupied territory in southern Lebanon."
Fletcher also expressed fears about the possible fracturing of "national cohesion" in Lebanon, noting "the importance of all Lebanese parties pulling together in this moment of real fragility and concern, as so many people are on the move."