UN Coordinator Urges Ceasefire Between Hezbollah and Israel

Beirut (ANTARA) - The UN Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, on Monday (30/3), called for an immediate ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel and warned that prolonged conflict could cause permanent damage to the country’s stability and prosperity.

In a statement, Hennis-Plasschaert said three UN peacekeepers were killed in southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours, and nine Lebanese paramedics died in one day over the weekend.

She stated that the death toll from the escalating clashes between Hezbollah and Israel has risen to 1,247 people, including health workers, journalists, civilians, and Lebanese soldiers not involved in the fighting.

The UN official said Lebanon has now become a “shadow of its former glory,” with parts of the country turned into rubble and ghost towns, and the number of refugees exceeding 1.2 million.

She called for an immediate ceasefire, basic steps to build trust, more intensive efforts by Lebanon to control its own decisions regarding war and peace, and the start of talks between Lebanon and Israel.

Cross-border fighting has intensified along the Lebanon-Israel border since 2 March, when Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel for the first time since the ceasefire was imposed on 27 November 2024, triggering increasingly intensive Israeli airstrikes across southern and eastern Lebanon.