A Hezbollah flag flies on the border between Israel and Lebanon. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP file photo)
BEIRUT — Lebanon "is ready for a war with Israel," the country's caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullah Bou Habib told Al Jazeera in an interview published on Friday, adding that the caretaker government is "consulting with Hezbollah and with other key players in Lebanon" on the matter "as Lebanon is a diverse country."
"We have to consult with all actors in the country, and this consultation does not imply a final decision," explained Bou Habib, noting that "international representatives have conveyed a threat from Israel, and our response was [let the Israelis] withdraw from our territories."
A source at the Foreign Ministry told L'Orient Today that the Foreign Ministry "consults on the matter of war and peace with Hezbollah in the same way that it consults with other parties within Lebanon."
US officials fear that Israel is preparing "a ground incursion into Lebanon that could be launched in late spring or early summer if diplomatic efforts fail to push Hezbollah from the northern border with Israel," CNN reported on Thursday, citing senior administration officials and officials familiar with the intelligence.
Bou Habib continued, "Any Israeli attack on our territories will not be a walk in the park and will lead to a regional war." He emphasized that "[Lebanon] wants peace on the borders, yet we are ready for war if [it is] imposed on us."
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel started on Oct. 8, the day after Hamas launched an operation against Israel.
Since then, Hezbollah and other "Resistance" groups have stepped up their strikes, while Israel has been bombing the border area on a daily basis and has even struck further inside Lebanon, most recently in the Baalbeck region earlier this week. These strikes have killed at least 283 people in Lebanon, including 42 civilians, three journalists and over 200 members of Hezbollah. More than 90,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in southern Lebanon.
Bou Habib further stated, "What matters to Israel is the return of residents to the areas they evacuated in the north." He added, "We want a comprehensive solution with Israel on the issue of our borders."
At least 80,000 Israelis are estimated to have fled from towns and villages in northern Israel, facing southern Lebanon, when Hezbollah and Israel began trading cross border fire on Oct.8. Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah has said that this cross border fire is in "support of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza."
Bou Habib concluded the interview with Al Jazeera by saying that "the French have proposed good ideas [for a diplomatic solution] that we are studying, and we will respond to them next week," without giving further details.
L'Orient Today was not able to reach the Foreign Affairs Ministry for further comments on the matter at the time of publication of this article.