Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib stressed that Israel must not expand the war it is waging with the Palestinian Hamas movement in Gaza and its surrounding areas.
In an interview to Asharq Al-Awsat from Washington, he described the “explosion” in Gaza as “dangerous”, blaming the situation on Israel’s “arrogance” and “constant violations” against the Palestinian people.
Israel rejects the two-state solution that was adopted during the 2002 Arab summit in Beirut, he went on to say. Its current government has shown disdain towards the Palestinians and has violated Christian and Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.
“So, the result that we see unfolding now was unavoidable,” he remarked, noting still that “no one expected this to happen from Gaza. Observers were worried about an explosion, and it happened.”
Bou Habib spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat before Hezbollah announced on Sunday that it had struck Israeli positions in the occupied Shebaa Farms.
He revealed that the Lebanese government had received a pledge from the Iran-backed party that it would not involve itself in the war in Gaza, unless Israel “harassed” Lebanon.
“Israel is now defending itself and it must not expand the war. If it does, only God knows what will happen,” said the FM.
Furthermore, Bou Habib added that Lebanon may be going through an unprecedented crisis and its state institutions are weak, “but security is under control, the army is present, and it has a foreign and internal policy.”
“The government is carrying on with its duties. Of course, we have problems, but the stances of the government represent the whole of Lebanon,” he stressed.
‘Bold’ Arab position
Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others, have called for an immediate ceasefire and return to peace negotiations that would grant the Palestinians their right.
Bou Habib said that Lebanon supports this demand, and it will benefit from any peace that is established in the region.
“We support this bold Arab position,” he declared. “We call on the United Nations to take a bold decision related to the resumption of the peace process and implementation of the two-state solution.”
Asked if the unrest in Gaza will impact the demarcation of the Lebanese-Israeli maritime borders, the minister replied that efforts will be delayed, but reaching a ceasefire is priority at the moment.
“We don’t believe that the Blue Line in the south is Lebanon’s actual border. We are therefore insisting on the border stipulated in the truce. We will continue to voice our demands to establish peace in the South,” he continued.
“In the end, Israel will have the final say. The Americans claim that they can’t force Israel to do anything without first receiving a response from it. Everything is now on hold until the fighting stops in Gaza,” he noted.
Addressing claims that the Lebanese state has been usurped by Hezbollah and so decisions related to the border are taken by the party, Bou Habib replied: “The agreement over the border was reached by this government and when we had an elected president.”
Asked when Lebanon will elect a president after nearly a year of vacancy in the country’s top post, he said: “It will happen sooner or later.”
More Syrian refugees
The situation in Lebanon is not only fragile because of its border dispute with Israel, but because of the war in Syria. It has witnessed a renewed flow of refugees from Syria in the tens and hundreds of thousands.
Bou Habib blamed the new wave on the “very bad” economic crisis on Syria that was caused by western sanctions. Every unemployed person wants to immigrate, he noted.
“The Lebanese know this more than anyone. We have millions of Lebanese who left their country because of the economy, more so than political or security reasons,” Bou Habib stated.
“We understand why the Syrians have turned to Lebanon, but we can no longer support them. We have taken in two million Syrians, or nearly half of the Lebanese population. We also have half a million Palestinians,” he added.
“Lebanon can no longer tolerate the situation,” the FM declared.
“The international community must understand this. As long as the UN continues to pay the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to support the refugees in Lebanon, they will remain here and not go back to their homeland. The UN agency and western countries view the Syrians as political refugees, when they are actually not,” he added.
“I am not saying that the UNHCR is a danger to Lebanon, but its policies are only leading to more Syrians coming to Lebanon. It is not fully cooperating with the Lebanese state or Syrian authorities to determine who is an economic refugee and who is a political one,” he revealed.
“If it does, then it won’t have that much work to do,” he continued, describing the agency as an “empire”.
“They need to understand the situation in Lebanon,” he demanded, saying the government and interior and foreign ministers always warn the UN that the current situation with the refugees must not persist, but western countries are still insisting on their position.
Turning to Hezbollah and Lebanon’s relations with Arab countries, Bou Habib said the ties were “good”. Contact are always ongoing with Arab countries, he added.
“Some Arab countries have a problem with Hezbollah’s presence in Lebanon. We view the party as a regional issue, not one that can be resolved by the Lebanese government,” he remarked. “I hope there is further understanding over this point.”
