Lebanese Foreign Minister Joe Raggi warned on Tuesday that Hezbollah risks pulling Lebanon into a new war at Iran’s behest, as efforts to enforce the June ceasefire between the group and Israel stall.
Irish Foreign and Defence Minister Helen McEntee with Joe Raggi © X
Lebanese Foreign Minister Joe Raggi warned on Tuesday that Hezbollah risks pulling Lebanon into a new war at Iran’s behest, as efforts to enforce the June ceasefire between the group and Israel stall.
“I expressed our concerns about the risk of Hezbollah dragging Lebanon into a new war at Iran’s request. I also reiterated the need for Israel to withdraw and stop its attacks,” Raggi wrote on X after meeting Irish Foreign and Defence Minister Helen McEntee.
He thanked Ireland for its contribution to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which includes more than 270 Irish troops, and recalled the government’s decisions to place all weapons under exclusive state control and ban Hezbollah’s military and security activities.
Seeking a successor to UNIFIL
With UNIFIL’s mandate set to expire on December 31, 2026, Beirut is pushing to maintain an international presence in the south.
Raggi said the two ministers agreed on the need for such a presence and discussed a possible role for the European Union, whose rotating presidency Ireland currently holds.
President Joseph Aoun told McEntee that Lebanon would welcome a European force working with the United Nations if UNIFIL’s mandate cannot be extended.
He also accused Israel of obstructing the framework agreement through its continued strikes, preventing the Lebanese army from deploying up to the border, and urged Ireland and other partners to press Israel to halt its attacks, withdraw and release prisoners.
The framework agreement provides for the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south, the disarmament of Hezbollah and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory they still occupy.
McEntee pledged that Ireland’s support for Lebanon would continue despite the difficult regional situation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right coalition partners made a last-ditch push on Tuesday to get their supporters to the polls, warning of surging Arab voter turnout, a tactic Arab politicians denounced as racist and inflammatory.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held talks in Moscow on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit, discussing ongoing negotiations, the Strait of Hormuz and energy supplies.
Israelis surged to the polls at the fastest rate in nearly half a century on Tuesday to pass wartime judgment on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in what voters described as the most consequential election in the nation's history.
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