China condemns Israeli attacks on Lebanon

China's top diplomat Wang Yi expressed support for Lebanon and condemned what he termed "indiscriminate attacks against civilians," Beijing's foreign ministry said yesterday.

Meeting his Lebanese counterpart in New York, Wang said: "We pay close attention to developments in the region, especially the recent explosion of communications equipment in Lebanon, and firmly oppose indiscriminate attacks against civilians."

Last week, a series of coordinated communications device blasts across Lebanon killed 39 people and wounded almost 3,000.

And yesterday Israel announced dozens of new air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, a day after 492 people, including 35 children, were killed in the deadliest bombardment since 2006.

Israel's overnight strikes came after it said it had killed a "large number" of militants when it hit about 1,600 suspected Hezbollah targets around the country.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it had launched volleys of missiles at Israeli military bases, hours after 180 of its projectiles and an unmanned aerial vehicle crossed into Israeli airspace, sending people in the city of Haifa running for shelter.

The Israeli military said more than 50 projectiles were fired into northern Israel in less than 10 minutes, most of which were intercepted.

Wang said China "strongly condemns any violation of the basic norms governing international relations."

"We will always stand on the side of justice, on the side of our Arab brothers, including Lebanon," Wang told Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.

"Countering violence with violence will not solve the problems in the Middle East and will only lead to an even greater humanitarian disaster," Wang added.

Beijing later said it was "deeply shocked by the military actions that have caused a large number of casualties" in response to a question about Israel's strikes.

"China opposes the violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and security," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

"We call on the relevant parties to take measures to immediately ease the situation and prevent regional tensions from escalating further," he added.

China also urged its citizens to leave Israel on Sunday as tensions with Lebanon grow.

Beijing has repeatedly called for peace talks to resolve the crisis in Gaza. In July, China brokered a "national unity" deal between Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian organizations to rule Gaza together after the war.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE