Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Lebanon's acting UN envoy expressed serious concerns on Thursday about the situation in his country and the wider Middle East ahead of a speech by Hezbollah's leader on the Israel-Gaza war.
In an interview with The National, Hadi Hachem, Lebanon’s acting UN ambassador, said that the country’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati is trying to ensure his country does not enter the Israel-Gaza war, even as Hezbollah and Israel exchange intensified cross-border fire.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will on Friday make his first public comments since the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel went to war. His speech will be scrutinised for clues on how the group's role in the conflict might evolve.
Analysts have suggested that a formal declaration of war by Hezbollah is highly unlikely but that the group's actions can be hard to predict.
“No one in Lebanon has interest in war,” said the diplomat. He added that Lebanese authorities have been in contact with Hezbollah's armed elements and are trying to calm the situation in the south.
Hamas said on Thursday that it had fired 12 rockets from Lebanon into Israel and Hezbollah attacked Israeli positions in the north with drones and mortar fire.
The Israeli military retaliated, sending warplanes and helicopter gunships to attack Hezbollah command centres, arms depots and sites from where the rockets were fired inside Lebanon. At least four Lebanese civilians were killed, state media said.
Mr Hachem praised US efforts in trying to prevent Israel’s war against Hamas from escalating into a larger regional crisis with significant geopolitical consequences.
“In Israel, we have the biggest loser which is [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and the extreme right,” he said.
“What's needed now from the international community is to put all the pressure on Netanyahu and his government to stop this war, because everybody knows that his political life is related to the war.”
To achieve peace in the region, Mr Hachem said there needs to be a new political class inside Israel that believes in “real peace”, is willing to abide by UN Security Council resolutions and withdraw from all occupied Arab land.
The Lebanese diplomat also discussed the overwhelming vote in favour of the Arab Group’s General Assembly resolution last month urging an immediate humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas, calling it a “big success”.
The vote on the non-binding resolution came as Israel announced an expansion of ground operations in Gaza.
The Jordanian draft was proposed in the name of 22 Arab countries. It was co-sponsored by 47 states, including China, and was approved with 120 votes in favour, 14 against and 45 abstentions.
“We succeeded to put the three demands of the Arab Group, which was to call for a ceasefire, open the humanitarian corridors to let the aid pass and stop the displacement of Palestinians,” he explained.
“I think the Americans in the General Assembly didn't really work against the resolution. They voted against it, but they didn't use their weight to stop the resolution and the General Assembly and that's why we were able to get 121 votes.”
Israel intensifies attack on Gaza – in pictures
-
A girl is rescued from the rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli air strikes in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip. AP Photo -
An Apache helicopter fires flares, seen from Sderot in southern Israel, close to the border with Gaza. Reuters -
Palestinians plug their phones into portable charging stations on a street in Khan Younis, Gaza. Bloomberg -
Residents search survivors among the rubble following Israeli strikes on Jabalia, northern Gaza. EPA -
Palestinians search for survivors and bodies following Israeli airstrikes at the Jabalia, the largest refugee camp in Gaza. AP -
Palestinians look for survivors among the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli strikes on Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. AP -
Palestinians look for survivors among the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli strikes on Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. AP -
A fire burns in western Gaza after an Israeli air strike. Reuters -
Missiles are fired from Israel towards the Gaza Strip. Getty Images -
Smoke rises from an explosion in Gaza. Getty Images -
A group of men survey the destruction following air strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city, as Israeli forces entered the northern area of the Gaza Strip. AFP -
A man drives a damaged car following air strikes on Gaza city. AFP -
A man pushes a bicycle past the remains of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
A woman and children walk past a house destroyed in Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
People dig through the rubble of a destroyed building following Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
A man drives a damaged car past a building destroyed in Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
People gather amid the destruction following Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
Wrecked vehicles and rubble on the streets following Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
Smoke rises from the northern Gaza Strip as Israeli air and ground forces amplified their military activities against Hamas. EPA -
An Israeli Apache attack helicopter flies close to the border with the Gaza Strip, near Israel's southern city of Ashkelon. AFP -
Israeli soldiers in an armoured personnel carrier on patrol near Israel's border with Gaza. EPA -
The crew of an Israeli tank prepare for ground operations near the border with Gaza. EPA -
Israeli soldiers prepare for ground manoeuvres at an undisclosed location in Israel near the border with Gaza. EPA -
The ruins of northern Gaza seen from Sderot in southern Israel. EPA -
Smoke and explosions caused by Israeli bombardment over northern Gaza. AP Photo -
An explosion on the Israel-Gaza border. Reuters -
A video grab shows fireballs and smoke rising above Gaza city following an Israeli attack. AFP -
An explosion in Gaza seen from Sderot in southern Israel. Reuters -
A video grab shows rockets fired from Gaza city. AFP -
Israeli air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip. AP Photo -
A video grab shows a salvo of rockets fired from Gaza city. AFP -
A flare trail fired by the Israeli army east of Khan Younis on the southern Gaza Strip. AFP -
Smoke from the bombing of the Gaza Strip over the Israeli border city of Ashkelon. AFP -
Flares over Gaza as seen from Sderot in southern Israel. Reuters
