Egypt warns against Israeli land invasion of south Lebanon

Egypt on Monday warned of the dangers that an Israeli ground incursion into southern Lebanon would bring, calling for the urgent need of a de-escalation of violence to keep the situation under control. At such a critical juncture, the Lebanese army should be the only armed group in Lebanon in a bid to ensure national security in line with UN resolution 1701, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told his British counterpart David Lammy over the phone in a conversation that centered on developments in Lebanon. Cairo's top diplomat deplored the "repeated Israeli acts of violence" across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, urging an immediate ceasefire there and subsequent delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians given the current circumstances, according to a foreign ministry statement. In addition to the developments in the Middle East region, the talks also covered bilateral ties and efforts to ratchet up cooperation between Cairo and London, added the statement. Source: Kuwait News Agency