Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib called for "immediate international support to halt the ongoing war that has devastated Lebanon and displaced over 1.4 million people, " urging a "cease-fire and a return to peace." In his address at the Union for the Mediterranean ministerial meeting in Barcelona, Spain, he warned against the risks of "internal strife" in the country, which could lead to a "massive exodus" from Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported Monday.
“My country, Lebanon, today suffers from the ravages of a devastating war that threatens its destiny and the future of its children,” Bou Habib said. “Most areas that have not been subjected to bombing and destruction have become a refuge for one 1,400,000 displaced Lebanese, meaning one in four Lebanese residents are now homeless. Many sleep along roads and sidewalks, relying on assistance that only meets a fraction of their needs after losing homes and livelihoods.”
He warned of the “internal strife due to expanding friction between the displaced Lebanese and residents of the areas to which they have fled” amid Lebanon’s ongoing economic crisis since 2019. This crisis, Bou Habib cautioned, could “lead to an explosion of tensions and social clashes, resulting in a massive exodus if the war does not stop immediately.”
He then proceeded to establish the different objectives Lebanon would like to achieve, notably an "immediate cease-fire and the balanced implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 by both parties," Israel's withdrawal from "all occupied territories" and its return to internationally recognized borders, a reinforcement of the Lebanese Army's capabilities. Bou Habib asked for the international community to "return the displaced persons to their villages and towns" on both sides of the border, provide humanitarian assistance to the displaced, aid to reconstruction and "transform aid" for Syrian migrants who have returned home "into more cost-effective assistance." Hundreds of thousands of people, mainly Syrian nationals, have crossed the border between Lebanon and Syria since the beginning of Israel's violent strikes in Lebanon, on Sept. 23.
"We look forward to your assistance and support in ending the cycle of violence and killing," said Bou Habib.
Since Sept. 23, the war between Hezbollah and Israel has intensified. Last October, Hezbollah opened “a northern front in support of Gaza,” leading to increased cross-border fire with Israel. Since the war in Gaza began, at least 2,672 people have been killed, and 12,468 have been wounded in Israeli attacks.