Australia urges Lebanon’s inclusion in Middle East ceasefire amid escalating Israeli strikes on Beirut

PM calls pause in hostilities a ‘fragile peace’ as Australia issues joint call with Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Jordan, Sierra Leone and UK for aid worker protections Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia says Lebanon must be included in the Middle East ceasefire and has led a group of other countries in expressing deep concern about “the worsening humanitarian situation and displacement crisis” as Israel escalates its bombing campaign on Beirut and the country’s south. Overnight, Israel carried out its largest attack on Lebanon since its war with Hezbollah began, killing at least 254 people and wounding 837, an assault that prompted Iranian officials to warn Tehran could withdraw from the ceasefire agreed with the US this week. The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Lebanon should be included in the ceasefire, despite Israel and the Trump administration saying that was not part of the deal with Iran. He called the pause in hostilities between the US and Iran “a fragile peace” but an important step, and announced Australia’s military deployment of a Wedgetail surve