Israel ready to use ‘all means’ in Lebanon if diplomacy fails, UN envoy says

Israel is ready to use “all means” to achieve its goals if diplomatic efforts fail to end the conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel’s envoy to the UN Danny Danon said.

“As we speak there are important forces trying to come up with ideas and we are open-minded for that. We are not eager to start any ground invasion anywhere … we prefer a diplomatic solution,” Mr Danon told reporters before a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday. “We are grateful for all those who are making a sincere effort with diplomacy to avoid escalation, to avoid a full war.”

If talks fail, however, Israel “will use all means at our disposal, in accordance with international law, to achieve our aims”, he said.

The comments came hours after Israel’s army chief told troops to prepare for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon, where at least 72 people were killed in the latest wave of Israeli air strikes on Wednesday. More than 600 people have been killed since Israeli air strikes intensified on Lebanon on Monday, displacing hundreds of thousands from the south and the Bekaa Valley. Strikes continued overnight and into Thursday morning, with Lebanese state media describing Wednesday night as the most violent in Bekaa so far.

Speaking to soldiers on the northern border, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said the past four days of intense bombing were “both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah”.

“Families were not spared from the killing machine and the perpetration of massacres against them,” the National News Agency reported. “The drones did not leave the Baalbek area, and the flashes and roar of explosions continued to echo until dawn.”

In an interview with Al Arabiya, Mr Danon said Israel is prepared to “flex its muscles” if diplomatic efforts fail, while Iran has also vowed to use “all means” against Israel.

“The region is on the brink of a full-scale catastrophe. If unchecked, the world will face catastrophic consequences,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. Tehran will “stand with the people of Lebanon with all means”, he added.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for the UN General Assembly in New York, the UAE, US and other nations issued an urgent call for a three-week ceasefire in Lebanon.

In a statement, they described the fighting as “intolerable” and said it “presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation”.

“We call on all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary ceasefire immediately consistent with UNSCR 1701 during this period, and to give a real chance to a diplomatic settlement,” the countries said, referring to a 2006 Security Council resolution that established the demilitarised Blue Line along the Lebanese border.

The White House has said discussions to ease Israel-Hezbollah tension have been continuing “for quite some time”.

US President Joe Biden has been focused on the possibility of a ceasefire “in almost every conversation he had with world leaders” at the UN General Assembly this week, a White House official told Reuters.

Officials have said the 21-day ceasefire could come into effect as early as Thursday, and said on Wednesday night that it could be implemented “in the coming hours”.

“We believe, regardless of what has happened on the battlefield over the last several days, the moment we feel is now to achieve that diplomatic resolution,” one official was quoted as saying by Sky News.

The ceasefire would not extend to Gaza, but “would buy time and space” for efforts to reach an agreement in the enclave, they added.

Source » thenationalnews.com