States backing UN peacekeepers in Lebanon voice 'deep alarm' at hostilities

In New York, around 30 countries backing the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon voiced concern over the fighting in Lebanon, which was drawn into the war last week when militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli strikes.

Israel, which kept up its strikes in Lebanon even before the war despite a 2024 ceasefire, has since launched air raids across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas -- an offensive that has left 570 people dead according to the health ministry.

Israel's U.N. envoy Danny Danon said Wednesday that Israeli forces would continue to operate in Lebanon "as long (as) there will be a threat against us".

Hezbollah meanwhile affirmed its "commitment" to the new Iranian supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamanei.

Jerome Bonnafont, the French ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters in New York that "we troop contributing countries to the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, joined by several other member states, express our deep alarm at the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon".