Lebanon’s caretaker PM says won’t let country get dragged into Israel-Hamas war due to Hezbollah

As Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group and Israel continue to exchange fires amidst the Hamas war, Beirut’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he is trying to ensure that his country doesn’t get dragged into the conflict.

“I am doing my duty to prevent Lebanon from entering the war” raging further south, Mikati told AFP in an interview.

Mikati expressed concerns that Lebanon’s powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah organisation’s skirmishes near the border could open a renew tensions with Israel and might possibly lead up to war.

Mikati, who is considered to enjoy cordial relations with Hezbollah, said he has no “clear answer” about whether war loomed ahead, adding that “it depends on regional developments”.

“Lebanon is in the eye of the storm,” he added.

Mikati has inherited a country that is facing a major financial crisis and deep political divisions which had left the country without a president for a year.

In 2006, Israel and Hezbollah fought a bloody conflict that left more than 1,200 people dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers.

“For now, Hezbollah has managed the situation rationally and wisely, and the rules of the game have remained constrained to certain limits,” Mikati said.

“But at the same time I feel like I cannot reassure Lebanese” because the situation is still developing, he added.

The 67-year-old fears that any escalation with Israel could devastate the entire Middle East.

“I cannot rule out an escalation because there is a race to reach a ceasefire before escalation spreads in the entire region,” Mikati said.

The skirmish between Hezbollah and Israel has so far been restricted to the northern border region, with the Israeli military launching counterstrikes.

At least 62 people have been killed in Lebanon, AFP tally quotes, which includes mostly Hezbollah combatants, apart from four civilians including a journalist.

Israeli officials have reported four deaths, including one civilian.

Apart from Hezbollah, which is believed to have a bigger arsenal than Lebanon’s army, other Iran-backed or affiliated groups have also launched attacks on Israel from Syria, and targeted US forces stationed in Iraq and Syria.

Mikati further said that Qatar was playing “an important mediation role”, and hoped for a better solution.

“Mediation almost succeeded last Friday, but was disrupted when the Israelis began ground operations in Gaza,” he told AFP.

(With inputs from agencies)