BEIRUT, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Tuesday called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop the attacks on Gaza and return to negotiation.
The foreign minister made the remarks during his meeting with Turkish top diplomat Hakan Fidan in Beirut, during which he also urged the Israeli side to stop attacks in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
The Lebanese minister also called for lifting the siege on Gaza and immediately delivering food, water, medicine, and electricity to people there.
For his part, Fidan said Türkiye is making efforts to prevent the spread of the war to other countries, especially to Lebanon.
He added that while this round of fighting may lead to significant and destructive wars, it may also lead to a historic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On Oct. 7, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a surprise attack by firing thousands of rockets on Israeli military targets and towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, prompting extensive Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. Hamas militants also infiltrated Israeli territory and took hostages during the attack.
Some 1,300 people in Israel were killed in the attacks launched by Hamas, while Israeli attacks have killed 3,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to official figures from both sides.
The conflict also led to increased Lebanese-Israeli tensions in the border area after Lebanon's Hezbollah military group fired on Oct. 8 tens of rockets toward Israeli military sites in support of Hamas, causing the Israeli forces to respond by firing heavy artillery upon several areas in southeast Lebanon. ■
