BRUSSELS: EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday said any further Israeli operations in Lebanon have to be avoided, as world leaders urged against a ground invasion.

“Arms should now be silenced, and the voice of diplomacy should speak and be heard by all,” Borrell said after emergency talks between EU foreign ministers.

“The sovereignty of both Israel and Lebanon has to be guaranteed, and any further military intervention will dramatically aggravate the situation and it has to be avoided.”

International powers are scrambling to prevent the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah from spiralling into a broader war after the killing of the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The 27-nation European Union has so far struggled to speak with one voice – or exert much influence – to curb the violence that has roiled the region over the past year.

EU’s top diplomat urges de-escalation at Lebanon-Israel border

Israel warned Monday it could send in troops to fight Hezbollah, saying the battle was not over despite the killing of Nasrallah on Friday.

US President Joe Biden and the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have opposed any ground invasion of Israel’s northern neighbour.

Borrell said the EU stood ready to increase its support for the Lebanese armed forces and could help bolster any efforts by UN peacekeepers to try to calm the situation.

Israel earlier this month launched a wave of deadly air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon, and on Friday bombed Nasrallah in Beirut.

UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi said “well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon”, while more than 100,000 have fled to neighbouring Syria.

Israel has increasingly switched its focus to Hezbollah after almost a year of waging a devastating offensive in Gaza following last year’s October 7 attack by Hamas.

Hezbollah, a close ally of Hamas, stepped up barrages of northern Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack, displacing tens of thousands of people.