Lebanon's PM Visits Troops at the Country’s Tense Southern Border with Israel

This handout picture provided by the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) shows Lebanon's caretaker PM Najib Mikati (R) shaking hands with Major General Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, the head of mission and force commander at the peacekeeping force's headquarters in the southern Lebanese border town of Naqoura, on October 24, 2023. (Photo by UNIFIL / AFP)
This handout picture provided by the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) shows Lebanon's caretaker PM Najib Mikati (R) shaking hands with Major General Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, the head of mission and force commander at the peacekeeping force's headquarters in the southern Lebanese border town of Naqoura, on October 24, 2023. (Photo by UNIFIL / AFP)
TT

Lebanon's PM Visits Troops at the Country’s Tense Southern Border with Israel

This handout picture provided by the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) shows Lebanon's caretaker PM Najib Mikati (R) shaking hands with Major General Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, the head of mission and force commander at the peacekeeping force's headquarters in the southern Lebanese border town of Naqoura, on October 24, 2023. (Photo by UNIFIL / AFP)
This handout picture provided by the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) shows Lebanon's caretaker PM Najib Mikati (R) shaking hands with Major General Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, the head of mission and force commander at the peacekeeping force's headquarters in the southern Lebanese border town of Naqoura, on October 24, 2023. (Photo by UNIFIL / AFP)

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Tuesday visited troops deployed near the border with Israel and UN peacekeepers, as Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops clash for a third week.

The visit by Prime Minister Najib Mikati to the tense southern province is his first since clashes erupted along the border following a surprise attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7. It also came two days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops along the border on Sunday.

Mikati and international governments have been scrambling to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from expanding to Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah group warned Israel about a ground incursion into the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said the group is in the “heart” of the war to “defend Gaza and confront the occupation."

“Its finger is on the trigger to whatever extent it deems necessary for the confrontation,” Qassem tweeted.

Clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli military thus far have been mostly limited to several towns along the border.

Journalists from Hezbollah's Al-Manar television reported that an Israeli helicopter attack struck an empty position near the border town of Houla, after a missile fired from Lebanon hit an Israeli military position.

The Israeli military said the anti-missile attack hit a position in Manara with no casualties. They added that they struck a group of militants in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, a disputed territory where the border of Lebanon, Syria and Israel meet.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's top Druze political leader Walid Jumblatt, said he along with Mikati and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri, who is Lebanon's parliamentary speaker, are in agreement that the war shouldn't further expand into the tiny Mediterranean country. Jumblatt said that he held calls with top Hezbollah security officials on the matter.

“But the matter is not up to Hezbollah alone ... Israel could have hostile intentions,” Jumblatt said after meeting with Druze religious officials and clergymen in Beirut. “We must expect the worst.”

Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006 that ended in a stalemate. Israel sees Hezbollah as its most serious threat, estimating it has around 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron visited Israel on Tuesday, where he reaffirmed calls to prevent the war from expanding into Lebanon and the wider Arab world, and called for a “decisive” political process with the Palestinians for a viable peace.

Macron warned Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups against opening a new front in the ongoing war, and that Paris had expressed those concerns in direct communication with Hezbollah.

“To do so would be to open the door to a regional inferno from which everyone would come out the loser,” he said.



Israeli Escalation Raises Tensions as Lebanon Prepares to Hold Municipal Elections in South

Lebanese soldiers stand next to a vehicle hit by an Israeli strike in Abu al-Aswad, southern Lebanon. (AFP)
Lebanese soldiers stand next to a vehicle hit by an Israeli strike in Abu al-Aswad, southern Lebanon. (AFP)
TT

Israeli Escalation Raises Tensions as Lebanon Prepares to Hold Municipal Elections in South

Lebanese soldiers stand next to a vehicle hit by an Israeli strike in Abu al-Aswad, southern Lebanon. (AFP)
Lebanese soldiers stand next to a vehicle hit by an Israeli strike in Abu al-Aswad, southern Lebanon. (AFP)

Lebanon fears that Israeli military escalation could undermine municipal elections scheduled for Saturday in the southern provinces of Nabatieh and South Lebanon, after two days of heavy bombardment raised concerns among voters.

Israeli strikes on Monday and Tuesday targeted areas across the South, fueling anxiety among displaced residents who had planned to return to their villages to vote.

A Lebanese ministerial source told Asharq Al-Awsat the latest escalation, particularly Tuesday’s shelling of towns beyond the immediate border area, appears to be “an attempt by Israel to disrupt voter turnout by heightening tension and fear.”

The source added that the strikes seemed aimed at “blocking efforts to restore normal life to the South and to undermine a sense of safety through the electoral process.”

Lebanon will press ahead with municipal elections in the South this weekend despite the spike in Israeli attacks, Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar said on Tuesday, reaffirming that the state would not compromise on its sovereignty.

The elections in the South will conclude the polls that have been held over the past three weeks.

“The Lebanese state has made its decision clear there will be no bargaining over our sovereignty in the South,” Hajjar told reporters after chairing a meeting to oversee preparations for the polls.

Authorities are in contact with international actors to halt Israeli violations during the electoral period, he said, amid fears that security tensions could deter voter turnout or delay ballot counting.

“Israeli aggression and violations continue, and parts of the South remains occupied,” Hajjar said.

“But from the President to the Prime Minister and the Interior Ministry, we are engaged in all necessary diplomatic efforts to stop these violations, especially during the elections, through to the vote count and announcement of results.”

Hajjar expressed hope that talks with member states of the ceasefire committee would help secure a calm election day.

“We are not waiting for guarantees,” he said, “but we are determined to hold these elections and to assert our presence and sovereignty in this dear part of our land.”