Israeli soldiers try to tow a tank stuck in the mud on the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel on March 21, 2026. AFP
The statement said Israel’s escalation included the deliberate targeting of vital facilities and infrastructure, including bridges linking different parts of Lebanon, calling it a grave breach of the United Nations Charter.
Egypt reaffirmed its support for Lebanon’s unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and expressed full solidarity with Lebanese state institutions at what it described as a critical juncture.
It urged the full and non-selective implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 to enable Lebanese institutions, particularly the army, to assume their responsibilities, extend state authority across all territory, and ensure weapons remain under exclusive state control.
The ministry said the destruction of infrastructure amounted to brazen collective punishment and had led to the forced displacement of around one million people and the depopulation of entire areas, warning against the use of humanitarian suffering as a tool of political and military pressure.
Egypt also called for urgent international action, particularly by the UN Security Council, to halt what it described as "unacceptable Israeli practices", warning that continued escalation could further deteriorate humanitarian and security conditions and push Lebanon toward deeper instability.
Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire have intensified across southern Lebanon since 2 March in recent weeks, damaging roads, bridges, and residential areas in Beirut and across the country.
Israeli officials have recently signaled the possibility of a full-blown ground invasion of southern Lebanon and a longer war against Hezbollah after the end of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Lebanese authorities and humanitarian agencies say the Israeli strikes have killed nearly 1,030 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of people, estimated at up to around one million, while disrupting access to essential services and complicating aid delivery in affected regions.
Before the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, the Israeli occupation army had violated the terms of the November 2024 ceasefire agreement on hundreds of occasions, with strikes that killed nearly 500 people and maintained an occupation of parts of the south.
Arab states and international organizations have increasingly described the strikes as violations of Lebanese sovereignty and international humanitarian law, particularly where civilian infrastructure has been hit, while warning of the risk of collective punishment.
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