Western leaders have used the UN’s centerpiece annual gathering in New York to call on Israel to exercise restraint in its military assaults on Lebanon and Gaza to prevent the eruption of a regional war.
“Israel has the right to defend itself. Israel has the right to exist, and we support the right of Israel to exist and to defend itself,” Michel said at an event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“Yet defending itself, it doesn’t mean collective punishment. It needs a principle of proportionality.”
He spoke after Israeli strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, an ally of Palestinian militants Hamas, left 558 people dead on Monday, including 50 children and 94 women, and 1,835 wounded, according to Lebanese authorities.