EU's Borrell meets Lebanese army chief amid border tension with Israel

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell held talks on Sunday with Lebanese army chief Joseph Aoun on the situation along the country’s border with Israel, Anadolu Agency reports.

A Lebanese military statement said talks between the two sides focused on regional developments and the situation on Lebanon’s border with Israel.

Borrell arrived in Lebanon on Friday on a diplomatic push to ease tension along the Lebanese-Israeli border. He held talks on Saturday with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Tensions have escalated along the Lebanese-Israeli border since Israel launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 amid an exchange of cross-border fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

At least 22,835 Palestinians have since been killed and 58,416 others injured, according to Gaza’s health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.

READ: Lebanon to file urgent complaint against Israel with UNSC