We do not want war in Lebanon. Lebanese deserve to live in security
November 20, 2023Amos Hochstein, attending The International Institute for Strategic Studies Manama Dialogue in Bahrain this weekend was questioned about the war in Gaza spreading to Lebanon.
Lebanese-US journalist @raghidadergham pointedly stated that it was the view of many in Lebanon and abroad the ISRAEL was the one inciting a broader conflict with Hezbollah, not the other way around and would the US contain Israel?
Watch this important declaration from Hochstein,
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English Script:
(Raghida) Amos, you have come from Lebanon, it seems, in the last few days. You were in Lebanon and Israel. What did you conclude that front now is quiet, temporarily transitionaly or do you have any ingredients for a lasting arrangement. Terms of Israel, people are always afraid that is that Israel is the Hezbollah and Iran that may make this a wider war, whereas there is a very strong feeling in many quarters in Lebanon. And beyond that, the fear is really from Israel wanting to pull in the U.S. to its side to get rid of Hezbollah. Have you been able to lean on the Israelis in a very permanent way and that’s it? You’re not going to do it through Hezbollah? Or are you still worried that this might get out of hand?
(Amos) Look, I think my trip to Lebanon was not about the gas fields or anything like that. It was about right now, we cannot afford an escalation of this conflict into another front. And my conversations in Lebanon mirrored the conversations we’re having in Israel as well. Of utmost importance is to ensure that the Gaza war does not spread to Lebanon. The Lebanese people do not need to be at risk of going to war. Israeli population should live in security in their northern towns, on their side of the border, and the Lebanese people have the right to live in security on their side of the border.
And yes, we have violence now. It is relatively measured and contained. We have to keep it that way. It’s in no one’s interest to do that. That is what we have said. We are not going to be dragged into war anywhere. And the sides need to We have to think about how do we ensure security for both sides of the border.
And I don’t believe that it takes a war to get there. And so I think the Lebanese people are overwhelmingly uninterested in going to war. And I think that that should stay that way. And we’re going to do everything we can.