The Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Abul Gheit, has urged Israel to stop making threats against Lebanon, on a visit to Beirut today. "We reject any threat to the unity and sovereignty of Lebanon...especially from Israel," he told a news conference after meeting the president of Lebanon, Michel Sleiman. "Yesterday we spoke with the Israelis during defence minister Ehud Barak's visit to Egypt, and asked them to stop thinking about threatening this friendly Arab country," Mr Gheit said.
Israeli leaders have issued several warnings to Lebanon since the formation of a national unity government in Beirut in which the Hizbollah-led opposition has 11 ministries and the power of veto over cabinet decisions. "The moment the Lebanese government confers legitimacy on Hizbollah, it must understand that the entire Lebanese state will be a target in the same way that all of Israel is a target for Hizbollah," the Israeli environment minister, Gideon Ezra, said today.
Prime minister Ehud Olmert made similar remarks yesterday, warning that Israel would fight a far more devastating campaign than the 2006 war if Hezbollah led the government. Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed on Sunday to destroy Israel if it carries out these threats. "If (a war) were to happen as they are threatening, our victory this time will be decisive, unquestionable and final," he said.
Hizbollah and Israel fought a devastating 34-day war in the summer of 2006 which killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers. Israeli attacks focused mainly on Hizbollah strongholds in the south and the on southern suburb of Beirut, but civilian infrastructure including Beirut airport, roads, bridges and a power station also came under bombardment.
The conflict was sparked when Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid on July 12 2006. * AFP
