"We are interested in peace," says Lebanese foreign minister

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib sent a special message to Foreign Minister Israel Katz, explaining that his country does not want a war to break out between them.

“We want peace, we do not want war,” Habib said in a statement carried by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, who spoke with Katz on Tuesday. Their conversation was reported to The Jerusalem Post by Katz’s spokesman.

Lebanon and Israel do not have diplomatic relations, so communications between them are unusual and often take place through third parties.

Habib spoke amid growing fears of a third Lebanon war after nearly nine months of cross-border violence between the Israeli military and Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy group located in Lebanon along its border with Israel.

Hezbollah has launched constant attacks on the northern part of the country since Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7.

U.S. Senior Energy Security Advisor Amos Hochstein shakes hands with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib in Beirut, Lebanon June 14, 2022. (REUTERS/MOHAMED AZAKIR)

In a show of solidarity with Iranian proxy group Hamas, the government said it would not stop violence until a permanent ceasefire was established in Gaza.

Some 60,000 Israelis who were evacuated from their homes when cross-border violence began in October have been unable to return.

Israel has preferred a diplomatic solution but has consistently said it would launch a campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon to push the terrorist group back beyond the Litani River.

According to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which codified the ceasefire agreement that ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006, the Lebanese army is the only military group allowed to be stationed on the border with Israel.

Katz sent a message to Habib saying: “We must send our residents home, if not through a diplomatic solution, it will be through war.”

On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel had effectively lost sovereignty over the northern part of the country, as it was not safe for Israelis.

Bayramov said the Lebanese chose him to deliver the message because they knew about the good relations that existed between Azerbaijan and Israel.

In his conversation with Bayramov, Katz blamed Iran, Azerbaijan’s neighbor, saying the Islamic Republic is stoking regional tensions, and he called for increased sanctions against it.

Last week, Katz conducted a situation assessment with his leadership team, during which he said the possibility of a wider war had increased.

It was not expected, Katz explained, that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah would accept a diplomatic solution, so only political and economic pressure on Iran could prevent an all-out war.

Israeli ambassadors have been urged to talk to the governments of the countries where they are posted, asking them to put pressure on Iran.

The ambassadors were instructed to press for the immediate implementation of Resolution 1701 and the immediate withdrawal of Hezbollah forces north of the Litani River.