Western countries intensified their warnings and contacts with Lebanese and Israeli officials to prevent the eruption of a broader conflict in Lebanon in wake of the Majdal Shams attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that left 12 youths dead.
Hezbollah has refused to offer any assurances, reiterating that it will “respond to any Israeli strike”.
Israel wants to hurt Hezbollah but not drag the Middle East into all-out war, two Israeli officials said on Monday according to Reuters.
Two other Israeli officials said Israel was preparing for the possibility of a few days of fighting following Saturday's rocket strike at a sports field in a Druze town that it blamed on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has denied its involvement in the attack.
Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib held talks at the Foreign Ministry with Hezbollah Arab and international relations official Ammar al-Mousawi.
The officials did not make any statements after the talks, but sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that they agreed to coordinate further with each other.
Mousawi also renewed Hezbollah’s position that the party would retaliate to the Israeli strike. “The issue has been decided and it is not up for debate,” he was quoted as saying.
The extent of the response will be up to Hezbollah’s assessment of the Israeli strike. The issue will be settled in the field, he added.
Media close to Hezbollah said western forces were insistent on knowing how Hezbollah would respond to the Israeli attack. They said Hezbollah did not offer anyone any assurances and that it was committed to the rules of engagement.
Hezbollah’s position has been conveyed to “all sides, including parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the foreign minister and US envoy Amos Hochstein.”
US and UK
Western powers have sought to contain the situation. Washington stressed the importance of preventing any escalation in wake of the Golan attack. London demanded that all sides show restraint.
While Washington has also blamed Hezbollah for the rocket strike and defended Israel's right to respond, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday, emphasized the importance of preventing escalation of the conflict, the US State Department said.
They discussed efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to allow displaced people to return home, reported Reuters.
In Beirut, Mikati received a telephone call from British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who reiterated his call on all parties to show restraint to prevent an escalation.
He called for the peaceful resolution of conflicts through relevant international resolutions.
Fears and criticism
Fears grew in Lebanon over the eruption of a broader war. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif al-Derian said Lebanon is “constantly coming under Zionist assaults.”
“We are worried that the assaults will expand and lead to a wide regional war. This demands that we consolidate our national unity to confront these dangerous challenges,” he added ahead of a trip to Saudi Arabia.
The Lebanese Forces, meanwhile, criticized the government. LF MP Ghayath Yazbeck said: “We are prisoners of an insane war waged by Hezbollah - in the name of Iran - against Israel, while Israel is waging a war against Lebanon.”
In remarks to local radio, he warned that “the war may expand at any moment.” He also criticized Bou Habib who assured that the retaliation to the Majdal Shams attack will not target civilians or lead to a wider war.
“We cannot rely on international assurances,” said Yazbeck, demanding that the government “confront the international community, Iran and Hezbollah with the position that protects Lebanon.”
Moreover, he demanded that parties turn to international resolutions that demonstrate that Israel is an aggressor against Lebanon.
Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora urged everyone “to be alert to Israel’s hostile intentions” and warned that it would seize every opportunity “to expand its war and aggression against Lebanon and continue its genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank.”
He called for uncovering the truth “behind the terrible massacre in Majdal Shams,” demanding an independent investigation by credible parties, not Israel.
Head of the Progressive Socialist Party MP Teymour Jumblatt said: “The blood shed in Majdal Shams is another black mark against the Israeli occupation.”
He saluted the “Arab people of the Golan on their united position, for averting strife and for expelling every occupier who sought to exploit this tragedy.”
