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Lebanese FM to Asharq Al-Awsat: Israel Mustn't Expand the War 

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib speaks to Asharq Al-Awsat from Washington. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib speaks to Asharq Al-Awsat from Washington. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Lebanese FM to Asharq Al-Awsat: Israel Mustn't Expand the War 

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib speaks to Asharq Al-Awsat from Washington. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib speaks to Asharq Al-Awsat from Washington. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

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.”

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Arab World

A Man Detonates Explosive Belt during Arrest Attempt in Iraq, Injuring 2 Security Members

A man wearing an explosives belt blew himself up Friday while a security force was trying to arrest him in western Iraq near the Syrian border, killing himself and wounding two security members, an Iraqi security official said. (Reuters/File)
A man wearing an explosives belt blew himself up Friday while a security force was trying to arrest him in western Iraq near the Syrian border, killing himself and wounding two security members, an Iraqi security official said. (Reuters/File)
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A Man Detonates Explosive Belt during Arrest Attempt in Iraq, Injuring 2 Security Members

A man wearing an explosives belt blew himself up Friday while a security force was trying to arrest him in western Iraq near the Syrian border, killing himself and wounding two security members, an Iraqi security official said. (Reuters/File)
A man wearing an explosives belt blew himself up Friday while a security force was trying to arrest him in western Iraq near the Syrian border, killing himself and wounding two security members, an Iraqi security official said. (Reuters/File)

A man wearing an explosives belt blew himself up Friday while a security force was trying to arrest him in western Iraq near the Syrian border, killing himself and wounding two security members, an Iraqi security official said.

The raid was being conducted in the al-Khaseem area in Qaim district that borders Syria, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The official added that “preliminary information” confirms that no members of the security forces were killed, while two personnel were injured and transferred for medical treatment, The Associated Press said.

Iraq’s National Security Agency said in a statement that its members besieged a hideout of an ISIS group security official and two of his bodyguards. One bodyguard ignited his explosives belt, killing him. It gave no further details.

ISIS once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq and declared a caliphate in 2014. The extremist group was defeated on the battlefield in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019 but its sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in both countries.

In December, two US service members and an American civilian were killed in an attack in Syria that the United States blamed on ISIS. The US carried out strikes on Syria days later in retaliation.

US and Iraqi authorities in January began transferring hundreds of the nearly 9,000 ISIS members held in jails run by the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria to Iraq, where Iraqi authorities plan to prosecute them.

Arab World

UN Peacekeepers in Lebanon Allege Surge in Israeli Violence toward Them

United Nations Spanish UNIFIL forces arrive to inspect chalets, after the Israeli army reportedly booby-trapped and blew them up at dawn, on the outskirts of the town of al-Khiam, southern Lebanon on January 31, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
United Nations Spanish UNIFIL forces arrive to inspect chalets, after the Israeli army reportedly booby-trapped and blew them up at dawn, on the outskirts of the town of al-Khiam, southern Lebanon on January 31, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
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UN Peacekeepers in Lebanon Allege Surge in Israeli Violence toward Them

United Nations Spanish UNIFIL forces arrive to inspect chalets, after the Israeli army reportedly booby-trapped and blew them up at dawn, on the outskirts of the town of al-Khiam, southern Lebanon on January 31, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
United Nations Spanish UNIFIL forces arrive to inspect chalets, after the Israeli army reportedly booby-trapped and blew them up at dawn, on the outskirts of the town of al-Khiam, southern Lebanon on January 31, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

UN peacekeepers patrolling southern Lebanon have faced a dramatic surge of “aggressive behavior” by Israeli forces over the last year, including drone-dropped grenades and machine-gun fire, according to an internal report seen by The Associated Press.

The report by one of the 48 nations that together have more than 7,500 peacekeepers in southern Lebanon says the number of incidents jumped from just one in January to 27 in December. The hilly frontier zone where the UNIFIL force patrols has seen decades of cross-border violence. Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants fought a full-scale war in 2024.

The targeting of peacekeepers appears aimed at undermining the international force and strengthening Israel’s military footprint along the UN-drawn border with Lebanon, known as the Blue Line, the report alleges. It was shared with AP on condition that the news organization not identify the country whose peacekeepers compiled the findings for internal use by their senior command.

Israel has long mistrusted UNIFIL, accusing it of failing to prevent Hezbollah from building up its military presence along the border in violation of ceasefire agreements going back two decades.

The growing catalog of run-ins comes as a half-century of international peacekeeping efforts along the border face an uncertain future. UNIFIL’s mission is scheduled to end this year and US President Donald Trump ’s administration regards it as a waste of money.

Israel says it tries to reduce harm

In a statement to AP, the Israeli military said it “is not conducting a deterrence campaign against UNIFIL forces" and is working within accepted frameworks to dismantle Hezbollah, largely based in southern Lebanon.

The military “takes steps to reduce harm to UNIFIL forces and other international actors operating in the area,” it said.

UNIFIL said in a statement that “the number of attacks on or near peacekeepers, as well as aggressive behavior toward peacekeepers, have increased since September 2025,” with most of those incidents attributed to the Israeli military.

“The majority of incidents do not involve physical harm to peacekeepers, but any action that interferes with our mandated activities is a matter of concern,” it said.

The UN force has reported additional incidents this year. An Israeli tank opened fire with small-caliber bullets on a UNIFIL post on Jan. 16, it said. This week, it reported that a drone dropped a stun grenade that exploded in the vicinity of a peacekeeping patrol before flying toward Israeli territory.

Report details array of incidents

The report seen by AP details multiple instances in 2025 of grenades being dropped by Israeli drones near UNIFIL patrols, including an attack in October that wounded a peacekeeper, as well as machine-gun fire near UNIFIL positions. In some cases, UNIFIL vehicles were damaged.

The last four months of 2025 also saw a surge in incidents of direct fire at all targets from Israeli positions on both sides of the Blue Line, the report says. Such incidents spiked to 77 in December, up from just two in January, it says.

UNIFIL vehicles and positions are clearly marked as belonging to the UN, and Hezbollah militants have not maintained a visible presence or fired on Israeli forces in recent months.

The report says “it cannot be excluded” that Israel is using the incidents to maintain a military presence north of the border and prevent people who have fled the zone from returning.

Israel-Hezbollah conflict

After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas -led attack on Israel that triggered war in Gaza, Hezbollah began firing rockets from Lebanon into Israel in support of Hamas and the Palestinians.

Israel responded with airstrikes and shelling. The low-level conflict escalated into full-scale war in September 2024, later reined in but not fully stopped by a US-brokered ceasefire two months later.

Since then, Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild in the south, in violation of the ceasefire, and has carried out near-daily strikes in Lebanon that it says target Hezbollah militants and facilities. Israeli forces also continue to occupy five hilltop points on the Lebanese side of the border. Hezbollah has claimed one strike against Israel since the ceasefire.

Spraying of chemicals spurs an outcry

The UN and Lebanon say Israeli forces dropped herbicide on Lebanese territory on Sunday, forcing a more than nine-hour pause in peacekeeping activities, including patrols.

“The use of herbicides raises questions about the effects on local agricultural lands, and how this might impact the return of civilians to their homes and livelihoods in the long-term,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said. There was no Israeli comment.

Dujarric added that “any activity” by the Israeli military north of the Blue Line violates a UN resolution adopted in 2006 that expanded the UNIFIL mission, in hopes of restoring peace to the area after a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Uncertain future for border area UNIFIL was created nearly five decades ago to oversee Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon after its troops invaded in 1978.

The UN Security Council voted last August to terminate its mission at the end of 2026.

Israel had long sought an end to its mandate, saying UNIFIL failed to keep Hezbollah away from the border. Under the 2006 UN ceasefire, the Lebanese army was supposed to maintain security in the south with backing from UNIFIL and militants were to disarm.

Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon have frequently accused UNIFIL of collusion with Israel and have sometimes attacked its patrols.

The Lebanese government says UNIFIL serves a necessary purpose. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in December that Lebanon will need a follow-up force to fill the vacuum and to help Lebanese troops along the border as they expand their presence there.

In an AP interview this week, Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri said several proposals are under discussion.

One possibility is an expansion of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, or UNTSO, which maintains a small observer force in Lebanon. The European Union has also offered to contribute to an international observer force, he said.

Whatever the arrangement, Mitri said: “We need a neutral, internationally mandated force to observe and make sure that whatever is agreed upon in negotiations is fully respected."

Arab World

France to Rally Aid for Lebanon as It Warns Truce Gains Remain Fragile

This handout photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency Press Office shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) receiving France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot (L) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, on February 6, 2026. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency Press Office / AFP)
This handout photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency Press Office shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) receiving France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot (L) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, on February 6, 2026. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency Press Office / AFP)
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France to Rally Aid for Lebanon as It Warns Truce Gains Remain Fragile

This handout photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency Press Office shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) receiving France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot (L) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, on February 6, 2026. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency Press Office / AFP)
This handout photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency Press Office shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) receiving France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot (L) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, on February 6, 2026. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency Press Office / AFP)

France said on Friday that Lebanon's recovery remains precarious despite positive signs following a ceasefire and government transition, and it stood ready to support the country's reconstruction if it continues with reforms.

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, addressing reporters after meetings in Beirut with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and other top officials, said France was prepared to host a dedicated conference in Paris on reconstruction, but only if reforms continue, legislation is passed ‌and decisions ‌are implemented.

While Lebanon has adopted ‌banking ⁠secrecy and ‌bank resolution laws, it must still complete restructuring, reach an IMF agreement and pass a loss-sharing law, Barrot said. He also urged swift action on Hezbollah disarmament and national reconciliation.

Barrot said Lebanon had reached a crucial juncture in implementing the November 2024 truce with Israel, as well as restoring ⁠state authority over weapons and stabilizing a shattered financial system.

France, the ‌country's former colonial power, plans ‍to mobilize international backing for ‍the Lebanese armed forces and internal security forces at ‍a separate conference scheduled for March 5 in Paris.

"Lebanon must work to restore confidence - that of its citizens, businesses, depositors, and the diaspora," Barrot said.

France's immediate focus was ensuring respect for the ceasefire, which he emphasized "implies that Israel withdraws from Lebanese territory, in accordance with its ⁠commitments, and that civilians are protected from strikes," alongside implementation by Lebanese authorities of an agreed-upon arms monopoly plan.

Lebanon has pledged to bring all arms in the country under state control, in line with the 2024 agreement that ended a devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel, and has asserted control over areas of the country closest to the border with Israel. But Hezbollah has warned the government that pressing on with efforts to disarm ‌the group throughout the country would trigger chaos and possibly civil war.