'War in the coming days': I did not want to sow panic. I am sounding the alarm, explains Marwan Hamadeh tells L'Orient-Le Jour

Comments by Marwan Hamadeh, an MP with the Progressive Socialist Party, caused panic on Wednesday. In an interview on the broadcaster MTV, the former minister spoke of a general war that would break out "in the coming days, or even the coming hours," citing "sources close to the ongoing negotiations."

Calling on the Lebanese not to panic, Hamadeh explained to L'Orient-Le Jour that his statements "are based on a reading of developments on the ground and the disappointing outcome of the ongoing negotiations" between Hamas and Israel.

"Nothing suggests that negotiations will resume in the near future, especially since [U.S. Secretary of State] Antony Blinken suddenly left Doha," he said.

Blinken just completed a tour of the region with no visible breakthrough in a truce in Gaza. He warned Israel and Hamas that the American proposal on the table could be the "last chance." New talks are expected in Egypt this week after Washington submitted a truce proposal on Friday during negotiations in Doha between Israel and the mediators.

Hamadeh stressed that, even in Lebanon, tensions are at their peak at a time when Israel has been bombing the Bekaa for two days and carried out a targeted strike on Wednesday targeting Palestinian leader Khalil Maqdah, in the heart of Saida.

"If we continue on the path of escalation, we would be serving the project of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," the MP added, affirming that this message is not only addressed to Hezbollah but "to everyone, starting with the countries for which Lebanon still matters."

"I did not want to sow panic. I am sounding the alarm about the escalation that has been going on for months," Hamadeh stated.

This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.