LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday called on all sides to exercise “caution” on the border between Israel and Lebanon, in his first telephone conversation since he was elected with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Starmer told his counterpart the “situation on the northern border of Israel was very concerning, and it was crucial all parties acted with caution,” a spokesperson for his 10 Downing Street office said.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement on Sunday fired another 20 rockets at northern Israel, leaving one person injured there, the latest cross-border attacks launched in solidarity with Hamas.
Hezbollah has traded near daily fire with the Israeli army across Lebanon’s southern border since its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked Israel last year, triggering the war in Gaza.
Discussing the conflict, the prime minister reiterated his condolences for the mass loss of life during the October 7 attacks, the spokesperson said.
“He then set out the clear and urgent need for a ceasefire, the return of hostages and an immediate increase in the volume of humanitarian aid reaching civilians.”
In his conversation with Netanyahu, Starmer added that it was also “important to ensure the long-term conditions for a two-state solution were in place, including ensuring the Palestinian Authority had the financial means to operate effectively.”
Efforts toward a truce are continuing with US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators hoping to halt the worst-ever Gaza war, which has caused mass civilian casualties and devastated the coastal territory.
The spokesperson said the prime minister also spoke by phone to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Starmer told Abbas that his “longstanding policy on recognition to contribute to a peace process had not changed, and it was the undeniable right of Palestinians.”
The October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, including 42 the military says are dead.
In response, Israel’s military offensive has killed at least 38,153 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.
UK’s Starmer urges ‘caution’ on Israel-Lebanon border
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UK’s Starmer urges ‘caution’ on Israel-Lebanon border
- Starmer told Abbas that his “longstanding policy on recognition to contribute to a peace process had not changed, and it was the undeniable right of Palestinians”
Turkiye ‘closely’ monitoring Kurdish groups as Iran war rages
- “We are closely following PJAK’s activities in Iran and regional developments,” the Turkish defense ministry said
- “Turkiye supports the territorial integrity of neighboring states, not their fragmentation“
ANKARA: Turkiye’s defense ministry on Thursday said it was “closely” following the actions of Kurdish militant groups over concerns they are being drawn into the war, reportedly by US-led efforts to destabilize Iran.
The conflict began on Saturday when US-Israeli strikes hit Iran, which retaliated with strikes across the region, with Tehran on Wednesday saying it had hit Kurdish militant groups based in Iraq.
The move came as reports suggested Washington was looking to arm Kurdish guerrillas to infiltrate Iran — a move that would likely raise hackles in Turkiye.
“We are closely following PJAK’s activities in Iran and regional developments,” the Turkish defense ministry said of an Iran-based Kurdish group which is an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdish militant PKK.
“Activities of groups like the PJAK terrorist organization, which promote ethnic separatism, negatively affect not only Iran’s security but also the overall peace and stability of the region,” the ministry said.
“Turkiye supports the territorial integrity of neighboring states, not their fragmentation.”
On February 22, the PJAK (the Kurdistan Free Life Party) and four other exiled Kurdish groups announced a political coalition to seek the overthrow of the Islamic Republic and ultimately to secure Kurdish self-determination.
Spread across Turkiye, Syria, Iraq and Iran, the Kurds are one of Iran’s most important non-Persian ethnic minority groups and have long supported anti-government protests in the Islamic Republic.
Turkiye has been seeking to end its conflict with the PKK, which formally disbanded last year after four decades of violence that claimed some 50,000 lives.
Although most PKK-linked groups embraced the call to disarm, the PJAK did not, with Ankara concerned any regional unrest could embolden recalcitrant Kurdish separatists.
In late January, following a wave of deadly anti-government protests in Iran, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi that “the complete neutralization of PJAK constitutes an urgent necessity for Iran’s security.”
