Hamas-Israel conflict: What's Lebanon stance? Is it ready for another war?
Cabinet convenes today, Thursday, to discuss the situation in Gaza, after a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel killed more than 1,200 people in Israeli towns and communities around the enclave.
Israel has launched a withering air campaign killing around 1,200 people in Gaza, as it announced a "complete siege" on the strip, cutting off water, fuel and electricity supplies.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has received many calls as the U.S. and Israel fear an impending offensive by Hezbollah against Israel.
The Lebanese government has reportedly been warned against escalating the conflict.
"We do not want Lebanon to join the fray and we are trying to avoid that," caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said earlier this week after meeting Mikati. He had earlier revealed that the Lebanese government has been promised that Hezbollah will not intervene in the Hamas-Israel war, "unless Israel started it."
Former Progressive Socialist party leader Walid Jumblat called on Hezbollah to stay out of the Israeli-Palestinian war, but said Wednesday that he supports anyone who resists against Israel.
"I hope that there will be no war (in Lebanon), but no one knows what Israel is planning to do, so we must be fully prepared to confront any aggression," Jubmlat said.
Other leaders, including Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel have warned against war.
Geagea said he will "exert utmost effort" to prevent a major ignition of Lebanon’s southern front with Israel, while Bassil warned against a return to the so-called “Fatah Land” era in south Lebanon.
“As much as we support the right of the Palestinian resistance to fight Israel on Palestine’s land, we refuse any use of Lebanese territory as a launchpad for military actions by any non-Lebanese party,” Bassil said on a post on the X platform.
On Monday Palestinian militants tried to infiltrate into Israel from Lebanon. Israel retaliated by striking south Lebanon and killing three Hezbollah members.
For his part, Gemayel accused Hezbollah of "exposing Lebanon to danger."
"We warn against dragging Lebanon into this conflict while our country is unable to pay the price," Gemayel said.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah, the Palestinian factions and several other parties in Lebanon have called for protests Friday across Lebanon in support of Palestine, after Hamas called for protests across the Muslim world on Friday.
Lebanese citizens who were interviewed about their opinion regarding a possible war with Israel were divided between supporters and opposers. Many said that the Lebanese have already suffered a lot, as Lebanon has been, since late 2019, in a state of economic collapse that the World Bank says is one of the worst in modern times and Beirut has been devastated by a massive explosion in August 2020 that killed more than 200 people and injured at least 6,500. In 2006, Hezbollah and Israel fought a devastating 34-day war that left more than 1,200 people dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers.
On Wednesday, Israel shelled south Lebanon after Hezbollah fired rockets from the border area in retaliation for the killing of three members earlier this week amid soaring tensions as Israel battles Gaza militants.
Source: Naharnet
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