(26 Nov 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++
AGENCY POOL
Fiuggi, Italy – 26 November 2024
1. Josep Borrell, EU Foreign Policy Chief arriving at news conference
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Josep Borrell, EU Foreign Policy Chief:
"Yesterday we (G7 ministers) discussed a lot about the situation in the Middle East. And I explained (to the) ministers and our Arab friends my assessment of the situation because I am coming from Lebanon. I was in Lebanon, I was in Jordan and I got fresh, first-hand information of what is going (on) there. On Lebanon, there is no excuses for (not having) a ceasefire. On the proposal agreement brokered by the US and France, Israel has all security concerns (met). There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise Lebanon will fall apart."
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Josep Borrell, EU Foreign Policy Chief:
"The Lebanese armed forces also are under attack of the Israeli army. Several of their soldiers, almost 50 of their soldiers, have been killed. A ceasefire is absolutely necessary if we want hundreds of thousands of displaced people to go back home, well – to go back home… there is no more homes. There is no more places to go. Because the south of Lebanon is fully destroyed."
++BLACK FRAMES++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Josep Borrell, EU Foreign Policy Chief:
"Let’s put pressure on Israel in order to approve the proposal of ceasefire today. But I heard voices of the extremist ministers of the Israeli government willing to continue the fight, willing to continue the bombing. And every night they do this on the civilian bombing. So let’s hope that today Netanyhanu(‘s) government will approve the ceasefire agreement proposed by the US and France. No more excuses, no more additional requests, stop this fighting, stop killing people and let’s start thinking on peace."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he hoped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would approve a ceasefire deal to end fighting in Lebanon, in remarks on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Italy on Tuesday.
Borrell urged stakeholders to put pressure on Israel to approve the proposal "today."
The policy chief added that the south of Lebanon is "fully destroyed."
"There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise Lebanon will fall apart," he added.
On Monday foreign ministers from the G7, the world’s leading industrialized nations, expressed cautious optimism about possible progress on the proposed ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Group of Seven ministers are meeting outside Rome.
A ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon was foremost on the agenda of the meeting, which gathered ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, in the last G7 encounter of the Biden administration.
For the first time, the G7 ministers were joined by their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, the so-called “Arab Quintet,” as well as the Secretary General of the Arab League.
As the ministers arrived in Italy, Israel’s ambassador to the US, Mike Herzog, told Israeli Army Radio on Monday a ceasefire deal to end fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah could be reached “within days.”
Israeli officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security Cabinet was set to convene Tuesday to discuss a proposed ceasefire.
Among the issues that remain is an Israeli demand to reserve the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the emerging deal.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/2157833425af456e9c6a1972d3eb7bd0
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in December 1, 2024, 9:04 am.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
