Lebanon calls Biden's remarks on conflict with Israel 'not promising'
Adds details on Biden's speech, more comments by the Lebanese minister, paragraphs 4-13
NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Reuters) -Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib voiced disappointment with U.S. President Joe Biden's remarks about the escalating crisis between Israel and Lebanon on Tuesday, but said he still hoped Washington could intervene to help.
"It was not strong. It is not promising and it would not solve this problem," Bou Habib said of Biden's speech at the United Nations earlier in the day.
"I (am) still hoping. The United States is the only country that can really make a difference in the Middle East and with regard to Lebanon," Bou Habib said in New York during a virtual event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Half a million people are estimated to have been displaced in Lebanon, he said. He said Lebanon's prime minister hoped to meet with U.S. officials over the next two days.
After almost a year of war against Hamas in Gaza, Israel is shifting its focus to its northern frontier with Lebanon, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of its ally Hamas.
Israel says some 70,000 Israelis have been forced to flee their homes in northern Israel.
In his address, Biden sought to calm tensions, saying full-scale war was not in anyone's interest. He told the 193-member U.N. General Assembly a diplomatic solution was still possible.
Israel has said it prefers a diplomatic solution that would move Hezbollah away from the Israel-Lebanon border.
Hezbollah says that it also wants to avoid all-out conflict and that only an end to the war in Gaza will stop the fighting. Gaza ceasefire efforts are deadlocked after months of faltering talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.
Bou Habib suggested Israel's government was not seriously pursuing a negotiated end to the fighting and instead sought to win on the battlefield.
The U.S. effort to halt an all-out conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has been led by a special envoy, Amos Hochstein. He has been thwarted by a cycle of attacks and counterattacks the Lebanese militant group began on Oct. 8, the day after Hamas’ onslaught into Israel, triggering the Israeli offensive into Gaza.
Hochstein and French diplomats have sought to broker a deal under which Hezbollah would pull back from Israel’s northern border, creating a buffer zone in which the Lebanese army would deploy.
Hezbollah has rejected a deal until Israel agrees to a ceasefire with Hamas. Israel says returning Israelis driven from their homes in northern Israel is a key objective of its fight with the Lebanese militants.
Reporting by Jonathan Landay, Phil Stewart and Jasper Ward; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Howard Goller
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
