Caretaker Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib speaks at a joint press conference after a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart in Egypt's new administrative capital, Aug. 6, 2024. (Credit: Ahmed Hasan/AFP)
BEIRUT — Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Tuesday that the Lebanese government is trying to "prevent a Hezbollah response against Israel that could start a wider war," according to Reuters.
Bou Habib made these comments during a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo.
Hezbollah's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said last week that the party would retaliate to an Israel strike that killed Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur and civilians in the Southern suburbs of Beirut last Tuesday.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in daily skirmishes along the Lebanese-Israeli border since October amid the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel.
According to local media outlets, Bou Habib also emphasized at the conference that U.N. Security Council Resolution (UNSC) Resolution 1701 "must be fully implemented and Israel must withdraw from Lebanese territory."
Resolution 1701, passed after the July 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, calls for a "permanent cease-fire" and the deployment of Lebanese Army soldiers and UNIFIL soldiers on the Blue Line.
Bou Habib added that the "first step towards de-escalation is to stop the Israeli aggression in Gaza."
More than 39,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war.
In the conference, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatti affirmed Egypt's "full support for Lebanon in response to the ongoing Israeli aggression" and condemned the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, including the recent bombing in Beirut's southern suburbs, according to local television channel LBCI.
He also urged concerned parties to "exercise restraint to avoid slipping into a full-scale war in the Middle East" and said that "communications are ongoing to halt the escalation in the region."
Abdelatti added that the "only way to stop the escalation is to achieve an immediate cease-fire in Gaza" and called on the "international community to fulfill its responsibility and exert pressure on the relevant parties to prioritize dialogue."
Finally, he said that he agreed with Bou Habib to continue supporting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) financially "as there is no alternative to the support it provides," according to LBCI.