Southern EU states call for Middle East ceasefire

Leaders from nine European countries around the Mediterranean Sea on Friday called at a summit in Cyprus for an end to fighting in Gaza and Lebanon.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned as "unacceptable" Israeli firing on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, a stance echoed by Spain's prime minister.

The three countries together have around 2,000 troops in the UNIFIL mission, which said Israeli tank fire led to the injury of two of its peacekeepers on Thursday.

On Friday it said two more were hurt after "explosions" near an observation tower.

Macron called it "absolutely unacceptable" that UN troops are "deliberately targeted by the Israeli armed forces". He added that France "will not tolerate" a repeat.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez demanded an "end to all violence" against the peacekeepers in Lebanon, and his Italian counterpart Meloni said: "It is not acceptable."

In a joint statement later, the three leaders expressed "outrage" at the peacekeeper injuries and said the "attacks" violate Security Council Resolution 1701, under which only the UN and Lebanon's army are to be present in southernmost Lebanon.

"Those attacks are unjustifiable and shall immediately come to an end," the statement demanded, calling for "an immediate ceasefire."

Israel's military on Friday said its soldiers fired toward a "threat" and hit a UNIFIL post. A day earlier they said they had fired in the area of the UN base, as Hezbollah fighters were operating in the area.

- Ceasefire 'indispensable' -

Israeli forces since late September have escalated operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon, as the war against Hezbollah's ally, Palestinian militants Hamas, continues in the Gaza Strip.

"Only a few miles away from Cyprus, we have a war. We have a difficult situation," Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said as he opened the summit.

Known as MED9, the grouping also brought together leaders from Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia and Croatia, along with the king of Jordan, Abdullah II, for the one-day meeting in the city of Paphos.

Christodoulides said MED9 called for an end to hostilities in Gaza and Lebanon, and a resumption of talks.

Macron added that this "ceasefire is indispensable for both Gaza and Lebanon."

The French president angered Israel's government last weekend by suggesting that countries should "stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza", while specifying that France was not supplying any itself.

At the summit, he said that "stopping the export of weapons" used in Gaza and Lebanon was the only way to end fighting there.

"This is not in any way a call to disarm Israel against the threats against this country and its people, our friends," Macron added.

The leaders also discussed getting more aid into Gaza, for which Jordan presented a new plan.

"France will contribute to it," Macron said.