'No one in Lebanon has interest in war,' says country's UN ambassador

Acting UN envoy Hadi Hachem speaks with The National about the Israel-Gaza war and the possibility of a wider regional conflict involving Hezbollah

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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.”

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