After a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, the Egyptian and Lebanese foreign ministers, Badr Abdelatty and Abdallah Bou Habib, urged that body to approve a binding resolution on the issue, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

During the meeting, the two officials discussed the escalation of violence in the Middle East following the new offensive launched by the Israeli army against its northern neighbor.

According to the latest report by the Lebanese Ministry of Health, 182 people were killed and 727 wounded by a wave of bombings on Monday alone.

In the communiqué, both ministers denounced the raid and demanded respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

They also urged the world to act to prevent the conflict from escalating into a wider regional war.

Israel must comply with international humanitarian laws, especially four Geneva Conventions and their protocols, to protect civilians caught amid hostilities, they stressed.

They reaffirmed that the only viable solution to the current Middle East crisis is to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire, as well as to stop the aggression against the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Abdelatty yesterday called for continued pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to halt its war campaign.

The minister addressed the issue in meetings at UN headquarters in New York with a number of officials of that international body.

He also demanded a cease-fire and reaffirmed Cairo’s rejection of the forced displacement of the Palestinian population.

During a meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, Abdelatty emphasized the need to force Israel to respect international humanitarian laws.

The top Egyptian diplomat echoed such concerns when talking to Sigrid Kach, senior UN coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs and Gaza Reconstruction, and in a later meeting with the UN’s special advisor for the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu.

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