Summary Wang Yi urged Iran conflict parties to “meet halfway” for peace, as Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed 31 despite a truce with Hezbollah.
(Reuters/AFP) - China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday he hoped parties in the Iran conflict can stay committed to pursuing a ceasefire and continue to meet each other halfway.
Iran said the United States had violated the ceasefire after the U.S. conducted what it called defensive strikes in southern Iran, while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said negotiating a deal to halt the conflict could "take a few days".
"We hope that the parties concerned can stay committed to pursuing a ceasefire and continue to meet each other halfway, so that peace can return to the Middle East as early as possible," Wang told reporters at the United Nations in New York after chairing a meeting of the 15-member Security Council.
"As we have been saying, it takes more than one cold day to freeze three feet of ice, and long-standing issues cannot be resolved overnight," Wang added.
"However, every step forward in the negotiation brings more hope to peace, and one day earlier the conflict is ended means less civilian casualties."
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed 31 people on Tuesday, the Lebanese health ministry said, as Israel said it was intensifying attacks despite a truce in its war with Hezbollah.
The Iran-backed group meanwhile said it faced Israeli troops entering the southern town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, as the Israeli military said it was expanding its ground operations.
In a statement, the health ministry said 31 people, including at least four children and three women, were killed in attacks and 40 wounded.
Fourteen were killed in Burj al-Shamali near Tyre, five in Kawthariyat al-Riz, four in Habbush, six in Maarakeh and two in Salaa.
An AFP correspondent in the southern city of Nabatieh reported airstrikes following an unprecedented warning on the city and saw plumes of smoke rising from various locations within it.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said one of the strikes hit the vicinity of a public hospital, causing "significant damage to the hospital's departments".
The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for at least 50 southern and eastern towns and villages on Tuesday, including Nabatieh city.
An Israeli military official told AFP that troops had begun operating beyond the Israel-announced "Yellow Line" in south Lebanon, which runs around 10 kilometres (six miles) deep inside Lebanese territory.
As Israel's operations moved deeper into south Lebanon, Hezbollah said its fighters confronted Israeli troops trying to advance into a town that overlooks Nabatieh city on Tuesday.
Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters repelled an Israeli force early Tuesday that had moved toward Zawtar al-Sharqiyah after airstrikes and heavy artillery fire.
The group claimed responsibility for a series of drone and rocket fires on Israeli forces in the town, and said it engaged directly with them.
In eastern Lebanon, the health ministry said "yesterday's Israeli enemy airstrike on the town of Mashghara in West Bekaa resulted in a preliminary toll of 11 martyrs, including two girls and a woman, and 15 wounded, including a child".
Rescuers were still clearing the rubble in the eastern town, the ministry added.
The Israeli military in a statement said it launched "several strikes... in the area of Mashghara" on "Hezbollah infrastructure sites where terrorists' activity was identified".
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) also reported several Israeli strikes across the south and east.
A strike on Srifa in the south killed a rescuer and wounded two others from the Risala Scouts association, linked to the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement, according to the health ministry, raising the rescuer death toll in the war to 121.