Stop Lebanon attacks to secure oil supply: Australia
Australia has called on Israel to end its attacks on Lebanon following a ceasefire agreement with Iran and warned that any continued conflict would risk the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
According to local officials, Israel announced that it carried out the largest wave of attacks on Lebanon since the beginning of the war, killing at least 250 people.
In a joint statement with the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Jordan, Brazil, Colombia and Sierra Leone, Foreign Minister Penny Wong called for an urgent end to the conflict in Lebanon.
“The ceasefire is fragile, but the world needs it to hold,” she told ABC TV on Thursday.
“There is a risk that the ongoing conflict in Lebanon could jeopardize the ceasefire across the region.
“We want the Strait of Hormuz to be opened so Australians and the world can see lower fuel prices.”
He said the deadly attacks overnight were “deeply concerning”.
Israel’s attacks on Lebanon follow Iran’s two-week ceasefire agreement with the United States and Israel on Wednesday that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil trade.
Iran says Lebanon was included in that now shaky agreement and has again closed the key shipping route in response to Israeli attacks.
The United States and Israel say Lebanon was never part of the peace agreement.
Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu also announced that his country is ready to return to the war in Iran at any time because it still has goals to achieve.
“Finger on the trigger,” he said in his remarks translated from Hebrew.
Opposition defense spokesman James Paterson said he was skeptical of Iran’s claims that Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire, but expressed concern about the extent of Israel’s attacks.
“Of course we are concerned about civilian deaths in conflicts like this,” he told ABC Radio on Thursday.
“Obviously there is a disagreement between the parties to this conflict about the terms of the ceasefire.”
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