We condemn in the strongest terms the attacks of Hezbollah against Israel which must cease immediately. We also condemn in the strongest terms the massive Israeli strikes on Lebanon conducted on 8 April which, according to the latest information shared by the Lebanese authorities, resulted in the death of more than 350 persons and wounded more than 1000. Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law.

We also condemn in the strongest terms the attacks against UNIFIL and we reiterate that the safety and security of UN peacekeepers must be ensured at all times.

We express our full solidarity and our steadfast support for the Lebanese people and authorities. We stand ready to provide emergency assistance to the more than one million displaced persons in Lebanon, in coordination with the Lebanese government.

We reaffirm the importance of respecting for Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and for the full implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). We will continue to support the Lebanese state to exercise its full sovereignty over the whole Lebanese territory. In this context, we commend the decision of the Lebanese government to ban Hezbollah’s military activities, as well as its decision to reinforce the full imposition of state authority over Beirut and to have the sole monopoly on weapons, and we encourage full and swift implementation.