Kremlin says Israeli strikes on Lebanon risk destabilising the Middle East

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin warned on Tuesday that Israeli strikes on Lebanon had the potential to completely destabilise the Middle East and widen the conflict there.

Israel struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the Iran-backed group attacked military facilities in northern Israel on Tuesday, a day after hundreds were killed in Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah targets.

Asked about the Israeli strikes, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call: “This is an event that is potentially extremely dangerous when it comes to the expansion of the conflict, to the complete destabilisation of the region. Of course, this is of extreme concern to us.”

In a separate statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow condemned what she called “indiscriminate” strikes on Lebanon that target civilians.

“It is urgent to stop the spiral of violence before the situation spirals completely out of control. We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities,” she said.

“We must do everything possible to prevent the Middle East from plunging into a full-scale armed conflict, the devastating consequences of which will inevitably affect everyone in the region and beyond. We are ready to coordinate with international and regional partners to prevent such a catastrophic scenario.”

Russia has deepened ties with Hezbollah patron Iran since the start of its “special military operation” in Ukraine. It has questioned the proportionality of Israel’s bombing of Gaza and the number of civilians killed, straining ties with Israel.

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov, Writing by Felix Light, Editing by Andrew Osborn and Timothy Heritage)