BEIRUT, March 30 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Monday called for an immediate truce between Hezbollah and Israel, warning that prolonged conflict could cause irreversible damage to the country's stability and prosperity.

In a statement, Hennis-Plasschaert said three UN peacekeepers were killed in southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours, and nine Lebanese paramedics died in a single day over the weekend.

She said the death toll from escalating hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel has risen to 1,247, including healthcare workers, journalists, civilians, and Lebanese soldiers not involved in the fighting.

The UN official said Lebanon has become "a pale shadow of what it once was," with parts of the country reduced to rubble and ghost towns, and the number of displaced exceeding 1.2 million.

She called for an immediate ceasefire, basic confidence-building measures, stronger efforts by Lebanon to control its own war-and-peace decisions, and the start of talks between Lebanon and Israel.

Cross-border fighting has escalated along the Lebanon-Israel frontier since March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel for the first time since a ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27, 2024, prompting intensified Israeli airstrikes across southern and eastern Lebanon. ■