Intense Diplomatic Efforts in Beirut to Steer Lebanon Away from Gaza War

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri holds talks with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati at Ain el-Tineh on Tuesday. (NNA)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri holds talks with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati at Ain el-Tineh on Tuesday. (NNA)
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Intense Diplomatic Efforts in Beirut to Steer Lebanon Away from Gaza War

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri holds talks with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati at Ain el-Tineh on Tuesday. (NNA)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri holds talks with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati at Ain el-Tineh on Tuesday. (NNA)

Diplomatic activity intensified in Lebanon on Tuesday to prevent the country from getting involved in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

British Ambassador to Lebanon Hamish Cowell stressed the importance of steering Lebanon clear of the conflict.

Britain's’ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) warned on Tuesday against non-essential travel to Lebanon and against all travel to some areas in the south of the country.

It advised against all travel to the area south of the Litani river, which includes the main Naqoura-Tyre-Sidon-Beirut highway and areas to the west of it.

“In addition, we continue to advise against all travel to the Hermel Area, including the towns of Arsal, Ras Baalbek, Qaa, Labweh and Nahle, Palestinian refugee camps or within 5km of the border with Syria,” it said in a statement.

“We keep our travel advice under constant review. The situation is unpredictable and could deteriorate without warning,” it added.

The security developments in Gaza and southern Lebanon dominated diplomatic talks held by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.

The PM’s office said Mikati held a series of security meetings at the Grand Serail in Beirut to discuss the security measures in the country. He met with acting General Security chief Elias al-Baysari, state security chief Antoine Saliba and Internal Security Forces chief Imad Othman.

The premier also received Egypt’s Ambassador to Beirut Yasser Alawi on a farewell visit. He also met with German Ambassador Kurt Georg Stockl-Stillfried. The officials did not make statements after the talks.

Mikati later met with Berri at his Ain al-Tineh residence to discuss the latest security and political developments. The speaker also received US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea. The PM and ambassador declined to make a statement after the meetings.

Hours earlier, Hezbollah MP Ibrahim Moussawi warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it was not “in his interest” to wage a battle with the Iran-backed party.

He said intense contacts have been held with Mikati and Berri to keep Hezbollah away from the fighting in Gaza.

He noted, however, that Israel “involved itself by striking Hezbollah positions.” He warned that the party will retaliate to the killing of its members by Israel.

Meanwhile, FM Bou Habib received Cowell to discuss the developments in Gaza and Lebanon. He also met with United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka.

Amid the tense backdrop, the government will meet at the Grand Serail on Thursday to discuss the latest developments and the Syrian refugee situation in Lebanon.

In a statement, Mikati’s office said he called for the meeting “in line with his constitutional duties and sense of national responsibility” given the tense situation in the country.

Hezbollah’s involvement in the conflict in Gaza has stirred heated debate in Lebanon.

MP Bilal Abdullah said Israel’s escalation in southern Lebanon on Monday was an attempt to widen the war and garner western and American support.

In remarks to local radio, he stressed the need for all parties, especially Hezbollah, to act rationally and keep Lebanon away from a direct confrontation and limit the conflict to the Palestinians and Israelis.

Lebanon is in an unenviable position and its people cannot withstand more setbacks, he warned.

The Palestinian Hamas group claimed a rocket attack and Hezbollah exchanged fire with Israel in a third day of violence at the border that opened up a new front for Israel as it battles Hamas in Gaza.

Hezbollah fired a guided missile at an Israeli tank on Tuesday, the group said in a statement, and Israel said it responded by striking an observation post belonging to the group.

The violence, triggered by the war between Israel and Palestinian fighters, marks the most serious escalation along the Lebanese-Israeli frontier since the 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

The Israeli army said no injuries were reported in Tuesday's attack by Hezbollah, three of whose fighters were killed on Monday in Israeli shelling into Lebanon.

A salvo of rockets was also fired from Lebanon into Israel on Tuesday, in an attack a security source in Lebanon said was carried out by Palestinian factions. That attack was claimed by Hamas.

The Israeli military said it responded with artillery fire to launches coming from Lebanese territory. It said some 15 rockets were launched from Lebanon, of which four were intercepted and 10 fell in open spaces.

A total of six combatants were killed in Monday's violence, the deadliest day at the frontier since the 2006 war. The clashes began when the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group mounted a cross-border attack into Israel, where Israeli forces killed two of its gunmen. An Israeli officer also died.



Aid to Gaza 'Facing Total Collapse', Warn 12 NGOs

 A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
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Aid to Gaza 'Facing Total Collapse', Warn 12 NGOs

 A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)

The humanitarian aid system in Gaza is "facing total collapse" because of Israel's blockade on aid supplies since March 2, the heads of 12 major aid organizations warned Thursday, urging Israel to let them "do our jobs".

Israel has vowed to maintain its blockage on humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged territory, saying it is the only way to force Hamas to release the 58 hostages still held there.

"Every single person in Gaza is relying on humanitarian aid to survive," the chief executives of 12 NGOs, including Oxfam and Save the Children, wrote in a joint statement.

"That lifeline has been completely cut off since a blockade on all aid supplies was imposed by Israeli authorities on March 2," they said, adding that "This is one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation."

A survey of 43 international and Palestinian aid organizations working in Gaza found that almost all have suspended or drastically cut services since a ceasefire ended on March 18, "with widespread and indiscriminate bombing making it extremely dangerous to move around", the NGOs said.

"Famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts of Gaza," they said. "Survival itself is now slipping out of reach and the humanitarian system is at breaking point."

"We call on all parties to guarantee the safety of our staff and to allow the safe, unfettered access of aid into and across Gaza through all entry points, and for world leaders to oppose further restrictions."

Israel's renewed assault has killed at least 1,691 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, bringing the overall toll since the war erupted to 51,065, most of them civilians.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.