Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Saturday said he would not accept anyone dragging "the country into adventures that threaten its security and unity", in an indirect message to the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Reuters/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Saturday said he would not accept anyone dragging "the country into adventures that threaten its security and unity", in an indirect message to the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
In a statement released after Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran, Salam noted the "serious developments" in the region and called on "all Lebanese to act with wisdom and patriotism, placing Lebanon and the Lebanese people’s interests above any other consideration".
Hezbollah has fought numerous conflicts with Israel since it was established by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that Israel had warned Lebanon that it would strike the country hard, targeting civilian infrastructure including the airport, in the event that Hezbollah gets involved in any U.S.-Iran war.
"I reiterate that we will not accept anyone dragging the country into adventures that threaten its security and unity," Salam said in a statement sent to Reuters.
Israel dealt heavy blows to Hezbollah during a war in 2024, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with thousands of its fighters and destroying much of its arsenal.
Reporting by Maya Gebeily
Israel said two of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon on Wednesday while Lebanese authorities said Israeli retaliatory attacks killed at least one person, a flare-up in violence that coincided with the latest round of talks between the two countries.
The Israeli military said it had begun targeted strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday in response to a "Hezbollah violation", a day after the latest round of U.S.-facilitated talks between Israel and Lebanon took place in Rome.
A proposed deal between Iran and Oman would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source and two regional officials told Reuters on Wednesday, in one of the biggest concessions yet to Iran.
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