EU leaders demand urgent Mideast ceasefire

(L-R) Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Malta's Prime Minister Robert Abela, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, Croatia's President Zoran Milanovic, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob, and Portugal's Foreign Minister Paulo Rangelas hold a press conference after the MED9 Summit in the Cypriot city of Paphos.

Leaders from nine European Mediterranean countries convened Friday in Cyprus, issuing an urgent call for an end to hostilities in Gaza and Lebanon while strongly condemning recent Israeli attacks on U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

The summit, known as MED9, brought together leaders from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia, and Croatia, along with Jordan's King Abdullah II, in the coastal city of Paphos.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed outrage over what they termed "unacceptable" Israeli fire on U.N. peacekeepers. The incident on Thursday resulted in injuries to two UNIFIL personnel, with two more hurt in subsequent explosions near an observation tower on Friday.

"It is absolutely unacceptable that U.N. troops are deliberately targeted by the Israeli armed forces," Macron declared, warning that France "will not tolerate" a repeat of such incidents.

In a joint statement, the three leaders condemned the attacks, stating they violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which mandates that only U.N. forces and the Lebanese army should be present in southernmost Lebanon.

"Those attacks are unjustifiable and shall immediately come to an end," the statement demanded,...