Israeli forces hit southern Beirut on Wednesday, striking just hundreds of metres from the Belgian embassy while Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot was visiting the city and present in the building.

Prevot called for the recent US-Iran ceasefire to be extended to Lebanon, calling for an urgent halt to the attacks.

"We were at the embassy with my delegation, just a few hundred metres from where the missiles struck. This must stop. The ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran must include Lebanon!" he said on X.

Prevot praised Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s offer to begin official negotiations with Israel towards a ceasefire, saying that a lack of warning before the strikes underscored the urgent need to broaden the truce.

He also reiterated Belgium's support for Lebanese authorities amid growing civilian casualties and destruction by Israeli attacks.

Ceasefire

After Pakistani mediation, US President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday, citing a "workable" 10-point negotiation proposal.

The announcement came less than two hours before the expiration of Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and accept an agreement or face widespread destruction.

Regional conflict escalated after US and Israel attacked on Iran on February 28, prompting retaliatory strikes targeting Israel and US military host nations.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2, after US-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, triggering the Tehran-aligned Shia group Hezbollah to fire missiles on Israeli positions.

Since then, Israel has intensified its attacks on Lebanon and expanded its invasion in the country's south, killing more than 1,530 people in Lebanon and displacing over 1 million.