Key diplomats and politicians in Lebanon as Gaza conflict sparks fear of regional tensions
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Sulaiman
- . January 6, 2024
- . Update: January 7, 2024 12:28 pm
Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Saturday said it fired more than 60 rockets at an Israeli military base, describing the development as a response to the recent assassination of Hamas’s deputy leader Saleh Al Arouri in a suspected Israeli drone strike in the capital Beirut.
The killing is a blow for Hamas and has sparked concerns over an expanded conflict in the region. But it has also hit its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, a powerful Iran-backed movement, as it hit Dahiyeh, a suburb of the city that is a stronghold for the group.
Less than 24 hours after the attack, the influential Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah addressed his followers from an undisclosed location and described the killing as a “flagrant Israeli aggression that would not go unpunished.
Possibility of a full-scale Israel-Hezbollah clash?
Since the beginning of the recent Gaza conflict, Hezbollah has been regularly attacking positions in Israel, describing the actions as its support for Hamas. Months of cross-border fire have claimed 175 lives in Lebanon, including 129 Hezbollah fighters but also over 20 civilians.
The Israeli military has retaliated. But so far, the violence has been largely contained to areas along the border. The Lebanese group has calculated its actions to prevent a full-scale clash with Israel, and the strategy is unlikely to change in the near future.
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is set to travel to Israel on Sunday for her fourth trip since the outbreak of the conflict on October 7, foreign ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer told a regular press conference on Friday.
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Baerbock holds plans to have discussions with Israel’s new Foreign Minister Israel Katz and President Isaac Herzog, in addition to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki. Subsequently, She is set to travel to Egypt and Lebanon.
The discussions are expected to focus on the “dramatic humanitarian situation in Gaza, the situation in the West Bank and the extremely volatile situation on the Israel-Lebanon border,” and efforts to facilitate the release of more Hamas hostages, as per Fischer.
“affirmative steps to … avoid escalation in Lebanon and Iran”
In addition, EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell arrived in Lebanon on Friday on a three-day trip, holding plans to meet caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, among several others.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in the Middle East, on his fourth trip since Hamas infiltrated Israel. He and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna have agreed to seek steps to avoid an escalation, the State Department said.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said: the two diplomats in a recent telephone call “discussed the importance of measures to prevent the conflict in Gaza from expanding, including affirmative steps to … avoid escalation in Lebanon and Iran.”
