Russia, which has occupied Crimea for nearly 11 years and invaded the rest of Ukraine two years ago, on Tuesday demanded Israel withdraw its troops from Lebanon less than 24 hours after they began their limited ground incursion.
“Russia strongly condemns the attack on Lebanon and calls on the Israeli authorities to immediately cease hostilities, withdraw their troops from Lebanese territory and engage in a real search for peaceful ways to resolve the Middle East conflict,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
“It is obvious that such a step taken by the Israeli military and political leadership following the assassination of a number of Hezbollah leaders will lead to a further escalation of violence in the Middle East region,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Russia has also condemned Israel for eliminating the Hezbollah leader who ordered the missile attacks, Hassan Nasrallah, with an airstrike on Saturday.
The Russian government did not mention the primary reason for Israel’s operation in Lebanon: constant missile attacks on Israeli civilians launched by Lebanese Hezbollah ever since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
One of the justifications offered by Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine was that NATO missiles were moving too close to Russian territory. Moscow has been enraged by Ukraine launching Western-provided missiles at targets on Russian soil. Putin recently threatened a nuclear response if Ukraine continues those attacks.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched what it described as a “targeted and limited ground operation” in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, targeting “infrastructures of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in a number of villages near the border.”
Lebanese civilians were warned to “stay at least 500 meters away” from the Hezbollah facilities targeted by the IDF.
Israeli officials said there were no plans for a “long-term occupation of southern Lebanon,” and a march to Beirut like the one in 1982 was “not on the table.” A military official said on Tuesday that Israeli forces are currently “within walking distance” of the border.
Even as Russia demanded Israel withdraw its forces, Hezbollah was issuing a statement to foreign media claiming that no Israeli troops have entered Lebanon at all.
