EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said on Saturday that Lebanon should not be “dragged into a regional conflict” following escalation on the Israel-Lebanese border.
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Since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, Lebanon's Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian Islamist movement, has increased its fire from southern Lebanon toward northern Israel, generally targeting military targets near the border. The Israeli army responded with bombing raids.
Those clashes are raising fears of a regional conflagration, particularly after the elimination of Hamas' number two, Saleh al-Arouri, who was killed on Tuesday in an attack attributed to Israel in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold.
This is the first strike on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital since October 7th.
“It is absolutely necessary to prevent regional escalation in the Middle East, it is absolutely necessary to prevent Lebanon from being drawn into a regional conflict,” Borrell said at a news conference in Beirut with Lebanese diplomacy chief Abdallah Bouhabib.
“I also address Israel: no one will win from a regional conflict,” he added.
Hezbollah, whose leader Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that Tuesday's attack would not “go unanswered,” claimed it fired dozens of rockets at a military base in northern Israel on Saturday.
“I think that war can be avoided, that it must be avoided and that diplomacy can prevail,” said Josep Borrell.
Previously, he met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), General Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
His visit is part of a diplomatic effort aimed at preventing spillover of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, sparked by an attack of unprecedented proportions on Israeli soil on October 7, but also at demanding a resolution to the war.
“Diplomatic channels must be open to send the message that war is not the only option, but the worst option,” he stressed.
“(…) Israel has announced its goal of eradicating Hamas. There must be another way to eradicate Hamas that doesn't cause so many deaths.
Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip have claimed 22,722 lives, mostly civilians, since October 7, according to a recent report from the Hamas Ministry of Health on Saturday.