Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Lebanese Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said that "Lebanon is ready for indirect negotiations [with Israel] because the other option is the risk of the war expanding into a regional war," state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.
Bou Habib made these comments in a dialogue session about "establishing a lasting peace in the Middle East" at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey with Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki, undersecretary of Bahrain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abdullah bin Ahmed al-Khalifa and assistant secretary general of the Arab League Hossam Zaki.
Bou Habib also said that if Israel withdraws from the Shebaa farms and Kfar Shuba hills, respects international borders and stops "daily violations," security would be achieved for all.
Moreover, he called Israel to try a "different option than the war that has been going on for more than 75 years."
Finally, he said that if the West stopped supplying Israel with weapons and ammunition, the war would stop.
According to an Al Jazeera interview published on Friday, Bou Habib said that Lebanon "is ready for a war with Israel," 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."
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in daily skirmishes since Oct. 8, one day after the beginning of the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.