Lebanon will be in a “very difficult place” if Hezbollah “gambles more” in a conflict with Israel, a Lebanese government minister has told Sky News.
Israeli airstrikes since early on Monday have killed 564 people, including 50 children and 94 women, and left another 1,835 people wounded in Lebanon, its health ministry has said.
Israel has said it is targeting the positions of Hezbollah, a powerful militant group that does not run the Lebanese government but does have members forming part of it.
While fears over escalation grow, Lebanon’s economy minister Amin Salam – who doesn’t represent Hezbollah – said the country is already “in the eye of the storm” and “war is happening”, with potentially dire consequences.
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Mr Salam told The World with Yalda Hakim: “There needs to be a decision whether we want to drag Lebanon into further escalation and misery or we want to make a wise decision.
“It is very clear if we decide, or if Hezbollah decides, or the whole country decides to take a big risk and gamble more in this war, we will be paying a very, very, very big price that will take Lebanon to a very difficult place, and it will take many, many years to get back from that place.”
The economy is in a “terrible place” he added, with “tens of thousands of people fleeing” for shelter.
Lebanese citizens who fled from the southern villages sit in a pickup in Beirut. Pic: AP
Cars sit in traffic as they flee the southern villages in Sidon, Lebanon, on Monday. Pic: AP
While Israel repeated on Monday that it is “not looking for wars”, its military spokesman said it will do “whatever is necessary” to push Hezbollah from its northern border with Lebanon.
Mr Salam said “the behaviour of Israel over the past half-century” makes it hard for him to believe their only intention is for the rockets from Hezbollah to stop.
This map shows data from NASA picking up thermal activity in Lebanon when Israel stepped up missile attacks this week
The minister said: “I’m 45 years old. For the past 45 years, I have not seen one intention of letting Lebanon live in peace and letting Lebanon be prosperous and be a competitor in this part of the Middle East.”
But he added he is also positive about the prospect of settling the conflict diplomatically, insisting “you can feel there’s a deal in the making”.
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With world leaders currently meeting at the UN General Assembly in New York, Mr Salam said he is pinning hopes on “good meetings” there.
He added: “I think the discussions that are happening in New York and the speeches that are coming out from world leaders that have influence on Lebanon, on Hezbollah, on the government, on the decision-making in Lebanon, is changing things by the hour, by the hour.
“And our foreign minister was not going to the UN due to the situation, and today he is going.
“So, something is changing. Something needs to change because we cannot definitely continue with this war.”