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Government of Lebanon estimated on Wednesday that “around half a million” people have been displaced by Israeli attacks since October 2023, including nearly 400,000 since the Israeli army began a wave of large-scale bombing on Monday, leaving even the date more than 550 dead and more than 1800 injured.

“We had 110,000 displaced persons, and now this number is approaching half a million,” he said. Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bu Habibduring an event organized by the think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which the organization broadcast on its YouTube channel.

“We cannot continue like this, in the situation we are in,” Bou Habib said, stressing that “nobody expected the war to reach such proportions.” “We Lebanese have had enough of wars,” he said, before stressing that “it is very difficult for the Lebanese to accept what is happening.”

Thus, he emphasized the importance of the United States in containing the conflict and noted that Washington “is the key to salvation, if I can use that word.” However, he argued that the Israeli government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu and composed of ultra-nationalists and ultra-Orthodox, seems “unable to survive except through war.”

“That is why he is not betting on a ceasefire in Gaza. Now that there is little to destroy or do in Gaza, they are turning to Lebanon, where Hezbollah is, which is one of their enemies,” he explained. “They attack, but they also cause a lot of damage to Lebanon. and the Lebanese, who are not so involved in the war,” he lamented.

“What is all this for? This is destruction for the sake of destruction,” Bou Habib criticized, stressing that “the Israelis have suffered, the Lebanese have suffered.” “Why can’t we find a solution? “We can reach an agreement on the land border, but Israel must be willing to negotiate, to accept the fact that it must end its occupation of a very small area of ​​Lebanon,” he said.

In this sense, he recalled that “Israel still occupies a small part of Lebanon, so there is resistance and a reason that gives this resistance some legitimacy,” referring to Hezbollah, which has refused to disarm, as expected agreement after the 2006 war in part claiming that Israeli forces continue to control part of Lebanese territory.

In any case, he stressed that “If Hezbollah is still armed, it must be Lebanon’s problem”before stressing that “Hezbollah is also a political party.” “It has members of parliament, it has representatives in the government, and most of us communicate with everyone in Lebanon,” he said, while confirming that the group’s weight is “greatly exaggerated.”

“Hezbollah does not control the airport. “Hezbollah does not control the borders,” he said. “Of course, they have influence, like others. They also have a popular base. They have influence, maybe more than others, but they do not have absolute influence in the country. If they want to appoint a president, they cannot. They must achieve commitments to others,” he noted.

War increases problems

Therefore, Bou Habib insisted that “killings do not bring peace” and that “war will not allow the Israelis to return to their cities, nor the Lebanese who left the south of the country, especially the destroyed houses, which number 7,000.” “This is only possible through negotiations. “War increases problems, but does not reduce them.”– he explained.

He thus compared the situation to the 2006 war, which lasted “six or seven weeks.” “In that war, the Israelis did not abandon their cities and go south, but stayed there. So Hezbollah only had short-range weapons. “I couldn’t get to Acre, Haifa or Safed,” he said.

“Despite everything, (in 2006) they stayed there. I don’t understand why they were recalled at the beginning of the war. Were they afraid that the same thing would happen to them as happened in the south the day before, on October 7?”

Hezbollah began launching shells and drones into northern Israel on October 8, 2023, the day after the aforementioned attacks that killed nearly 1,200 people and kidnapped nearly 250, and after Israel launched a military offensive on the Gaza Strip that is now underway More than 41,250 Palestinians were killed as a result, with more than 700 more people killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

For this reason, Bou Habib stressed that the problems between Israel and Lebanon are “different” from those between Israelis and Palestinians. “They are fighting for the same land. We are not. We have occupied land, and Israel recognizes that,” he said, before stressing that the current situation is “created by what is happening” and “has nothing to do with Lebanese or Hezbollah politics,” referring to the situation in the Loop.

“Every time there was an escalation, it was because of Israel,” he criticized, before accusing coordinated explosions detected on thousands of communications devices last week, killing more than 40 people and injuring nearly 3,500. “This was an attack mainly against Hezbollah, but many civilians were hurt,” he condemned, before describing it as “an act against (Lebanon’s) sovereignty and independence” and “an attack on the country.”

“Very dangerous” situation

He also stressed that the situation is “very dangerous” due to the involvement of pro-Iranian Iraqi militias, Yemeni Houthi rebels and Iran, although he noted that he “does not believe that Iran wants to be drawn into a war.” and recalled that former Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdolakhian –died in a helicopter crash in May along with the country’s president, Ibrahim Raisi. “He said he wanted an immediate ceasefire.”

“It is true that it was difficult for Israel to accept this during the first week,” acknowledged Lebanon’s foreign minister, who said the US and Iran had planned contacts for October 10, 2023, in Oman to discuss an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, which has been damaged since Washington unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from a landmark pact signed in 2015, heightening tensions in the region.

Finally, Bou Habib noted that the Lebanese government has “few cards in its hand” to resolve the current situation and stressed the need for Israel to open up to the negotiation process. In this sense, he demonstrated his readiness to ensure that within the framework of the agreement Lebanon deploys army on border with Israeltogether with the blue helmets of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the event of an agreement on the land border in accordance with the agreement between the two countries in 2022 on the maritime border.

Escalation of clashes between Israel and Hezbollah – an Iranian-backed group with significant military and political clout in Lebanon – has raised concerns about the possibility of a wider conflict in the Middle East. In this context, the Israeli army recently presented its “operational plans” for Lebanon to the United States.

(Europe Press)