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Rai Refuses Involving ‘Our People’ in South Lebanon in War

Smoke rises from the village of Arab El Louaizeh southern Lebanon following Israeli shelling, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, 03 March 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Smoke rises from the village of Arab El Louaizeh southern Lebanon following Israeli shelling, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, 03 March 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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Rai Refuses Involving ‘Our People’ in South Lebanon in War

Smoke rises from the village of Arab El Louaizeh southern Lebanon following Israeli shelling, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, 03 March 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Smoke rises from the village of Arab El Louaizeh southern Lebanon following Israeli shelling, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, 03 March 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

Political divisions in Lebanon over the five-month escalating war in the South of the country between Hezbollah and Israel intensified lately.
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai refused on Sunday to involve the people of south Lebanon in a war they have nothing to do with.
“The Lebanese and our people in south Lebanon have nothing to do with it,” said Rai in his Sunday sermon.
Replying to Rai’s remarks, Jaafarite Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan said: “Lebanon’s sovereignty, yesterday and today, is up to what the people of the south decide”.
The recent positions come amid a planned visit by US envoy Amos Hochstein to Beirut on Monday.
The US envoy is expected to meet with Lebanese officials as part of efforts to appease the situation on the Israel-Lebanon border.
Lebanese sources familiar with European positions towards Lebanon said that diplomatic western efforts are pushing in the same direction to prevent the situation from escalating into a war in Lebanon.
“In Lebanon, no one should drive our country into war, destruction, killing and displacement. It is useless to involve the Lebanese in general, and our people in the south in particular, in matters of no concern to them”, said Rai in his sermon.
For his part, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of Beirut Elias Aude cautioned against the expansion of the Israeli war into Lebanon.
“We all know that our enemy is criminal and vicious, no humanity or conscience can stop it”, said Aude, adding that Lebanon can not bear the brutality of Israel’s crimes.
MP Ali Fayyad of Hezbollah Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc said on Sunday: “Our right for resistance remains unquestionable as long as our presence is targeted (by Israel) and our land remains occupied...our duty is to respond to deter the enemy and restore security to our villages”.
Qabalan for his part said: “What the Resistance is doing on the southern Lebanese front is a sovereign necessity..maintaining silence through it is a crime”.

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Arab World

Iraq Preoccupied with Potential Broad Israeli Attack

Iraqi PM Mohammed Shi al-Sudani at an emergency national security council meeting. (Iraqi government)
Iraqi PM Mohammed Shi al-Sudani at an emergency national security council meeting. (Iraqi government)
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Iraq Preoccupied with Potential Broad Israeli Attack

Iraqi PM Mohammed Shi al-Sudani at an emergency national security council meeting. (Iraqi government)
Iraqi PM Mohammed Shi al-Sudani at an emergency national security council meeting. (Iraqi government)

Baghdad has been preoccupied this week with serious possibilities that Israel may expand its war on Gaza and Lebanon by striking several targets in Iraq in retaliation to attacks by Iran-backed armed factions.

Concern has been high that Israel may attack government buildings, oil fields and strategic locations, not just the positions of the armed factions that have previously launched attacks against Israel, said sources close to the pro-Iran ruling Coordination Framework.

Media sources have spoken of government speculation that Iraq could come under “300 Israeli attacks”.

The fears in Iraq have been compounded by an Israeli complaint to the United Nations Security Council against seven armed factions and holding Baghdad responsible for the attacks they have carried out against it.

This prompted the government, through the foreign ministry, to send an official letter to the Security Council, UN Secretary-General, Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation in response to the Israeli threats.

The ministry said on Saturday that Iraq is “the cornerstone of stability in the region and world and it is one of the countries that are most committed to the UN Charter.”

“The Zionist entity’s letter to the Security Council is part of a systematic policy aimed at creating claims and excuses in an attempt to expand the conflict in the region.”

It said Iraq has turned to the Security Council out of Iraq’s keenness on the international body carrying out its duty in maintaining international peace and security and the need to rein in the “Zionist aggression in Gaza and Lebanon.”

Moreover, it stressed that Iraq has been keen on exercising restraint when it comes to the use of its airspace to attack a neighboring country.

Israel has used Iraqi airspace to launch attacks against Iran in October.

Iraq underscored the importance of the international community stepping in to “stop this hostile behavior that is a flagrant violation of international law.”

It called for international efforts to stop the Israeli escalation in the region and ensure that international laws and treaties are respected to consolidate security and stability.

Meanwhile, a source close to the Coordination Framework said the main Shiite parties are taking the Israeli threats “very seriously”, urging Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's government to take “all the necessary measures to avert a potential Israeli strike.”

All leaders of armed factions, as well as Shiite leaders, have taken up alternative locations and are moving under great secrecy, confirming that they have changed the majority of their military positions, said the source.

It also dismissed claims that Israeli jets have overflown Iraq, saying nothing has been confirmed, but not ruling out the possibility, especially since US forces have control over Iraqi skies and Iraq is helpless against stopping these violations.

Iraq had submitted a formal complaint to the UN and Security Council over Israel’s use and violation of its airspace to attack Iran.

Analyst and former diplomat Ghazi Faisal said the pro-Iran armed factions have been gathering their forces in the Sinjar province, which is strategic for Iran’s arms deliveries and logistic support to Syria where attacks can be carried out against American forces and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Sinjar is one of the most important strategic bases for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, he added.

Furthermore, he noted that the armed factions insist on continuing the war against Israel, rejecting government calls for calm and neutrality.

The government’s statements are aimed at delivering a message that it “is not directly responsible for the strategy of these factions,” which follow Iran’s policies.

Iraq has repeatedly said that it refuses for its territory to be used to attack another country, but some observers believe that it may allow Iran to do so should Israel strike.