Canada, UK, Australia and Japan call for ‘urgent end to hostilities in Lebanon’

InternationalMust ReadCanada, UK, Australia and Japan call for 'urgent end to hostilities in Lebanon'By Reuters -Apr 15, 2026Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan and six other countries condemned the killings of UN ​peacekeepers in Lebanon on Tuesday while calling “for an urgent end to hostilities” in the country where ‌Israeli attacks have killed over 2,000 people since March. “Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Sierra Leone, Switzerland and the United Kingdom remain deeply concerned by the worsening humanitarian situation and displacement crisis in Lebanon,” the ​countries said in a joint statement without directly mentioning U.S. ally Israel or Hezbollah. The statement comes after the deaths of three Indonesian peacekeepers last month. The U.N. ⁠has said preliminary findings from its probe showed one was killed by an Israeli tank projectile and ​two by an improvised explosive device most likely placed by Hezbollah. Israel intensified air attacks on Lebanon after ​Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on March 2, three days into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Israel has since widened a ground invasion into Lebanon’s south, ordering hundreds of thousands of Lebanese to flee villages. The Israeli offensive has killed ​more than 2,000 people and forced 1.2 million from their homes, according to Lebanese authorities. Hezbollah ​missile fire has mainly targeted towns near Israel’s northern border but has also been aimed at major cities. ‌Two ⁠Israelis and 13 soldiers have been killed since March 2, Israel says. “We condemn in the strongest terms actions that have killed UN peacekeepers and significantly increased the risks faced by humanitarian personnel in southern Lebanon,” the 10 countries said in the joint statement, which only noted Israel ​in the context of ​the ceasefire in the ⁠U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran. “We welcome the ceasefire agreed between the United States, Israel and Iran. We call for an urgent end to ​hostilities i...