Blair 'hopes Israeli action is proportionate'

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Following a G8 summit dominated by the escalating conflict between Israel and Lebanon, the prime minister delivered a Commons statement on his discussions with other world leaders.

Blair said the "whole of the summit was completely overshadowed by the events in the Middle East".

He told MPs the events of the past few days had seen the "disintegration of our hopes for stability" in the region.

The prime minister again refused to condemn the retaliatory strikes on Hizbollah targets in Lebanon but said he hoped that "military action by Israel is proportionate".

"We should be in no doubt about the immediate cause of this situation," he said. "It started with the kidnap of an Israeli soldier."

He said this and the Hizbollah attacks on Israel from Lebanon were "acts of extremism by militant groups that were, as the G8 said unanimously, without any justification and of course were designed to provoke the very response that followed". Read more