ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday condemned Israel’s “adventurism” in the Middle East region, calling the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon a “reckless act”, a major escalation in the region. Lebanon’s Hezbollah confirmed on Saturday that its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had been killed and vowed to continue the battle against Israel. Tel Aviv said it had carried out the raid on Beirut’s southern suburbs a day earlier, which would have been devastating for the group as it reeled from an escalating campaign of Israeli attacks. A statement issued by the Foreign Office today said: “Pakistan strongly condemns Israel’s growing adventurism in the Middle East. Its indiscriminate attacks on civilians and disregard for international law have reached alarming levels. It noted that over the past few days, Israel has “engaged in unacceptable violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty, relentlessly targeting civilian population centers and undermining its stability and security.” “We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims of Israeli aggression and to the people of Lebanon,” the statement said. “Pakistan continues to express solidarity with the Lebanese people,” he added, calling on the UN Security Council to stop Israel from its “adventures in the region and violations of international law.” Nasrallah’s death is a big blow not only to Hezbollah, but also to its alleged backers in Iran. He was a leading figure in the Tehran-backed “Axis of Resistance” that helped spread Iranian influence in the Middle East. Lebanese health authorities confirmed six dead and 91 wounded in the first attack on Friday – the fourth in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut in a week and the worst since the 2006 war. More than 700 people have been killed in strikes over the past week, authorities said. Meanwhile, Saturday’s five-hour continuous Israeli attacks on Beirut soon followed Friday’s attack, which was by far Israel’s heaviest on the city during the conflict with Hezbollah, which has been running parallel to the conflict in Gaza for almost a year.
