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In a message seemingly directed at the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, Lebanon’s prime minister warned Wednesday against any moves that could pull the country into renewed fighting between Iran and the U.S. and Israel.
“Faced with the risks of renewed war in the region, I renew my warning of the dangers of dragging Lebanon into a new senseless adventure in service of outside interests,” Nawaf Salam said on Wednesday, without explicitly mentioning Hezbollah.
Southern Lebanon has been a major front in the interlinked regional conflicts, with fighting between Iran’s Hezbollah allies and Israel’s military driving tens of thousands of people from their homes and killing almost 9,000 since Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
Hezbollah, long a powerful political and paramilitary force in the country, pulled Lebanon directly into the war with Israel by launching strikes on the Jewish state in support of Hamas after the 2023 terror attacks sparked the war in Gaza, and then by firing rockets and missiles in support of Iran after joint U.S.-Israeli strikes commenced on Feb. 28.
The Lebanon conflict has proven to be a major sticking point in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, as Tehran has consistently rejected any peace deal with Washington that does not also end fighting in Lebanon and Gaza.
A fragile ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hezbollah in June has halted most large-scale fighting between the two sides, but Israeli forces still occupy a large section of southern Lebanon, and there are sporadic attacks by both sides.
“We do not accept the country again becoming a theater for the conflict of others,” Salam added, saying Lebanon had “already paid a heavy price.”
President Trump threatened repeatedly ahead of the U.S. midterm elections to renew strikes on Iran, but he told the Financial Times as the results came in Tuesday evening that he had no immediate plans to order attacks.
CBS/AFP
