Lebanon ‘long warned’ against dragging country into war, premier says

ISTANBUL

Lebanon has “long warned” against dragging the country into war, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Thursday evening.

“We are working to stop this war and enable displaced people to return to their homes as soon as possible,” Salam said in a televised speech.

He said the Lebanese government “will not retreat from its position to restore the decision of war and peace and end this new adventure.”

“We are working to extract Lebanon from the predicament it has been plunged into.”

On March 2, Lebanese group Hezbollah began attacking Israeli military sites in response to repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the killing of Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli strike.

Israel retaliated with launching a military campaign on Lebanon, carrying out airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and areas in the south and east of the country, and on March 3 began a limited ground incursion in southern Lebanon.

According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, the attacks have resulted in 687 deaths, including 98 children, and 1,774 injuries.