GENEVA/BEIRUT – Israel has sent an indirect message to Lebanon that it would strike Lebanon hard, targeting civilian infrastructure including the airport, in the event that Hezbollah gets involved in any U.S.-Iran war, two senior Lebanese officials said on Tuesday.
The office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Lebanese presidency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Iran and the U.S. will hold a third round of nuclear talks on Thursday in Geneva, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on Sunday, amid growing concerns about the risk of military conflict between the adversaries.
Israel dealt heavy blows to the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah during a war in 2024, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with thousands of its fighters and destroying much of its arsenal.
Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah was established by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982.
Hezbollah’s new leader Naim Qassem said in a televised address last month that the group was “not neutral” in the standoff between Washington and Tehran, and that it was “targeted by the potential aggression”.
“”We are determined to defend ourselves. We will choose in due course how to act, whether to intervene or not,” Qassem said.
The U.S. State Department is pulling out non-essential government personnel and their eligible family members from the U.S. embassy in Beirut, a senior State Department official said on Monday.
Salam urges Hezbollah not to drag lebanon into another war
In an interview with the newspaper Nidaa Al-Watan, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam indicated that “we have no control over the course of Iranian-American relations.” However, he simultaneously urged Hezbollah not to drag the country into a new adventure, saying: “The Gaza adventure came at a high cost to Lebanon, and we hope we will not be dragged into another one.”
DIASRMING HEZBOLLAH
Regarding the completion of the process of restricting the use of weapons, the Prime Minister affirmed that the Cabinet is proceeding with its decision, without hesitation or ambiguity, as it is an irreversible sovereign choice. However, he acknowledged that the pace of implementation north of the Litani River is linked to a number of factors, including the results of the upcoming conference to support the Lebanese army in Paris next month, about which Salam expressed optimism regarding its chances of success, noting that the countries calling for it, the United States, France and Saudi Arabia, will be keen to provide the elements for its success.
(Reuters)
