New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters on Monday told his Israeli counterpart that the pact signed by the US and Iran to end the war “provides an important chance” for de-escalation in Lebanon.
The pact, dubbed the Islamabad MoU, calls for an end to military campaigns across all fronts in the Middle East, including in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have killed over 3,800 people since the US and Israel launched war on Feb. 28, hitting many cities in Iran.
Peters, during his phone call with Gideon Sa’ar, also expressed New Zealand’s “grave concerns” about the statements by Israeli far-right Cabinet Minister Ben Gvir about Lebanon, according to a statement by the New Zealand Foreign Ministry.
In his expletive-laden social media statement, Ben-Gvir last week said: “For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep.”
On the situation in the occupied West Bank, Peters said New Zealand “is alarmed” by occupiers' violence and settlement expansion in the Palestinian lands, which “is incompatible with our long-held view that a two-state solution is the only sustainable way forward.”
An Israeli escalation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 2023 has resulted in the killing of 1,169 Palestinians and injury to 12,666, in addition to the arrest of 23,000 people, according to Palestinian figures.
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