When Israel attacked Iran last week, sparking off a major regional war, there was a substantial concern across the region that other nations will get sucked into the conflict. That’s been particularly true in Lebanon, which Israel is still attacking on a near daily basis.
Israel invaded Lebanon late last year in a war against Hezbollah, and while there’s a ceasefire in place, Israel largely doesn’t respect it. Hezbollah being historically a major ally of Iran’s, there was a concern they’d join in to the conflict, which Lebanese officials quickly urged them not to do.
It wasn’t just the Lebanese government issuing warnings on it’s own, however. French President Macron and US officials have reportedly been contacting the Lebanese government and warning them to remain neutral.
French President Macron and former Iranian President Rouhani
Macron warned that they could offer no guarantees to prevent Israel from a massive attack in the event on them getting drawn into the war, though of course Israel already is attacking Lebanon anyhow, so the distinction between being at war and just being in the present ceasefire is somewhat more nebulous than it normally would be.
The US was more threatening, warning Lebanon would “pay a hefty price” if it didn’t remain neutral in the conflict. US envoy Tom Barrack is expected to visit Lebanon later this week for talks, and that will likely be a topic of discussion.
Hezbollah seems on board with staying out of the conflict, at least for now. They haven’t launched a single rocket at Israel since the ceasefire began in November, despite thousands of Israeli strikes since then. They reportedly told officials that they believe Iran was able to resist Israeli attacks on its own and there was no need to get involved.
