BERLIN, May 31 (Xinhua) -- German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Sunday expressed "great concern" over the further advance of the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, urging all conflict parties to immediately cease hostilities and return to an agreed ceasefire.

In a statement, Wadephul noted that while the Israeli military action is a reaction to ongoing attacks by Hezbollah on northern Israel, any further escalation will aggravate an already tense situation and trigger new waves of displacement within Lebanon.

If civilians are the ones who pay the price of a military escalation and parts of Lebanon become permanently uninhabitable, it will not make Israel's neighborhood safer in the long term, he said. ■