Lebanese minister Bou Habib speaks of “Israel’s aggressive plans to prolong the war” and calls on Egypt to “continue to support Lebanon in what is to come” to avoid a regional escalation.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib on Tuesday called for greater Arab economic and political support for his country in the face of a possible prolongation of the war in the Middle East.
At a press conference in Cairo, alongside his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, Bou Habib thanked the “contacts to avoid an escalation” and He called on Egypt to “continue to support Lebanon in what lies ahead,” especially by providing an “umbrella” of Arab protection. to Lebanon “in the face of Israel’s aggressive plans to prolong the war.”
The head of Lebanese diplomacy expressed confidence that Achieving a truce in Gaza will be “the first step towards protecting the entire region from the repercussions of a comprehensive war.”
“When Israel was only bombing Lebanon, we spoke with Hezbollah (a Lebanese Shiite group) about a response that would not lead to war, but now, after the extension of Israeli attacks in Iraq and Tehran (…) the decision is no longer fair. Lebanese,” argued the Lebanese minister.
Bou Habib regretted the economic repercussions of the escalation of the conflict in Lebanonand criticized countries that asked their citizens to leave the country in anticipation of a possible response from Iran and Hezbollah to the recent assassination of the Hamas leader in Tehran and the Shiite group’s top commander in Beirut.
For his part, the Egyptian Foreign Minister reaffirmed his country’s support and solidarity with Lebanon and assured that the Cairo will spare no effort and will “continue to work with its regional and international partners to stop the escalation.”
Abdelatty condemned the “policy of assassinations” and the “lack of respect for the sovereignty of countries,” referring to the assassination of the political leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, last Wednesday in Tehran.
The killing came a day after Hezbollah’s top military leader, Fuad Shukr, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut, an attack claimed by the Jewish state.
Warning that “this policy will only lead to more violence and a possible loss of control of the situation,” Abdelatty said that Cairo will continue its “intense contacts” with the United States and Qatar – other mediators in the Gaza war – “to avoid a regional war.”
Source: Observadora
