Lebanon FM warns of 'devastating’ regional war if Israel escalates campaign against Hezbollah
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Lebanon's top diplomat, Abdallah Bou Habib, adds that security in the south ultimately depends on a strong Lebanese army and an agreement on the border – not war.
WASHINGTON — As Israel and Hezbollah jockey for the upper hand with back-and-forth strikes across Lebanon’s southern border, the country’s top diplomat is insistent: War must not be allowed to break out.
If there is war, it “is going to be not just devastating to Lebanon, it’s going to be devastating to Israel, and possibly to neighboring countries, Jordan and Syria. It’s going to be terrible,” Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Al-Monitor in Washington on Wednesday.
Both sides remain on high alert and heavily armed, with neither yet willing to back down.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military said its warplanes struck deep into central Lebanon, knocking out what it said was a Hezbollah air defense battery in the latest retaliation for the Lebanese militant faction’s barrages into Israel and the Golan Heights.
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