OTTAWA—The G7 group of leaders “unequivocally” backed Israel’s right to security Thursday as they nevertheless called for restraint by all parties amid Israeli preparations to retaliate against Iran’s missile attacks and widen a military offensive in Lebanon.
Iran’s direct attack on Israel this week is a “serious threat to regional stability,” said a joint G7 statement released by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office, which condemned Iran’s destabilizing actions throughout the Middle East using “terrorist proxies and armed groups — including the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas — as well as Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq.”
The global leaders said Iran’s attacks “must stop,” and warned the region risks tipping into a devastating war.
“A dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation risks fuelling uncontrollable escalation in the Middle East, which is in no one’s interest. Therefore, we call on all regional players to act responsibly and with restraint. We encourage all parties to engage constructively to de-escalate the current tensions. International humanitarian law must be respected.”
Within an hour of the G7 statement, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told reporters in Paris that Canada recognizes Israel’s right to defend itself, and said Israel’s vow of retaliation would see “severe consequences” against Iran. However, she added, “We want to make sure that ultimately, it doesn’t become a full-scale war.”
Joly underscored the need for diplomacy, and said the decision by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to bar UN Secretary General António Guterres as a “persona non grata” is “counterproductive” to international efforts to find a ceasefire.
Fears of a widening conflict have western countries like Canada and the U.S. urging their citizens to leave Lebanon, but both countries have not been able to persuade most of their nationals to return. Joly said about 900 seats on three commercial flights Friday, Saturday and Sunday have been reserved, and cautioned Canadians that Israel has struck Beirut, not just targets in the south of Lebanon.
Joly’s department said later Thursday that 275 passengers left on two flights from Beirut to Istanbul, including nationals from Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and the U.S. Other flights earlier this week brought out more than 300 Canadians “to safety.”
U.S. President Joe Biden was asked about whether he would support Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities, and appeared to leave the door open to that, saying “We’re in discussion of that.”
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington that the U.S. has “ongoing conversations” with Israel about the “shape” and “scope” of its military campaign and “what their targets are,” but refused to discuss details.
Miller rejected suggestions that Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah had indicated he was going to accept a 21-day ceasefire before he was killed by an Israeli strike on the weekend, saying “at no time” did the U.S. get the message that Nasrallah or Hezbollah “had agreed or was going to agree to it.”
On Thursday, the G7 leaders’ statement said that on the eve of the anniversary of Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, “We condemn once again in the strongest possible terms such unjustified acts of deliberate violence and stand with the families of the victims and the hostages taken by Hamas.”
It reiterated calls for an “immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the unconditional release of all hostages, a significant and sustained increase in the flow of humanitarian assistance, and an end to the conflict.” And it reiterated the call for a “cessation of hostilities as soon as possible” in Lebanon to allow talks for a diplomatic solution.
“This is the only path to durably de-escalate tensions, stabilize the Israel-Lebanon border, fully restore the sovereignty, territorial integrity and stability of Lebanon, and return displaced citizens to their homes with safety and security on both sides,” the statement read.
The Israeli military on Thursday warned people to evacuate a city and other communities in southern Lebanon that are north of a U.N.-declared buffer zone, signalling it may widen a ground operation launched earlier this week against the Hezbollah militant group, the Associated Press reported.
