Lebanon’s foreign minister on Thursday defended Hezbollah’s presence in the region but said Lebanon “had no say in the decision to go to war with Israel.”
In an interview with CNBC’s Dan Murphy, Abdullah Bou Habib vowed to uphold the U.S.-France-brokered ceasefire that has shown signs of strain and said he would seek foreign funding to assist Lebanon of reconstruction.
“We support Hezbollah, but as Lebanese we do not support this war and the government had no say in the decision to go to war and we have to admit that,” he said.
Hezbollah, both a political party and a paramilitary group, has been accused of dragging Lebanon, a country of more than 5 million people, into a war it does not want to fight with Israel. Iran-backed militia formally holds 13 seats, but has wider alliance 62 seats among Lebanon’s 128 member states The parliament also controls most of Lebanon’s borders and its airport.
“Iran has influence in Lebanon through Hezbollah, but Lebanon is not ruled by Hezbollah,” Bouhabib told CNBC. “This government is not influenced by Iran, and there is no doubt that Iran has allies in Lebanon.”
Will the ceasefire last?
As a French-US-brokered deal came into effect on Wednesday, allowing displaced Israelis and Lebanese to return home after 14 months of intense conflict, Bou Habib said Hezbollah “will faithfully implement” the ceasefire.
Less than 48 hours after the ceasefire was agreed, Israel and Hezbollah accused each other of violating the ceasefire.
Lebanon “ready, willing and determined” to implement United Nations Resolution 1701Bu Habib said the aim was to ensure Israel’s withdrawal from the south and move Hezbollah north of the Litani River. The area under 1701 will be controlled by the Lebanese Armed Forces and United Nations peacekeeping forces. Under the current ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces and Hezbollah will gradually withdraw their troops from southern Lebanon over the next 60 days, and U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein told CNBC on Wednesday that he hoped the ceasefire agreement would become permanent.
Lebanese cabinet also reiterate Their commitment to Resolution 1701, in line with previous UN Security Council resolutions, calls for the “disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon,” including Hezbollah.
The foreign minister warned against this statement, saying: “As long as we occupy the land, it will not be difficult, probably impossible, not to encounter resistance, and I mean military resistance. So we must repair the border with Israel. We have They must be fixed once and for all.
Lebanese political analyst Ronnie Chatah told CNBC, “The occupation the foreign minister is referring to is the Shab’a farms. Syria considers this limited disputed area to belong to Lebanon, while Israel considers it to have been occupied or is now annexed. .
political deadlock
Even before the war began, the country had been in a political stalemate. Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun stepped down in 2022, and the current government exists as a caretaker government.
Lebanon’s political system is held together by a sectarian power-sharing agreement that guarantees representation of the country’s different religious groups but is often blamed for the deadlock.
“I’m not saying this government has the trust of all Lebanese, but it has the trust of the majority of Lebanese,” Bou Habib told CNBC.
rebuild lebanon
world bank The conflict is estimated to have caused a total of $8.5 billion in losses to the Lebanese economy, including material and economic losses.
Lebanese Economy Minister Amin Salam told CNBC earlier this month that the losses could be even greater, not just in terms of economic losses but also in infrastructure and jobs, with cumulative losses reaching about $20 billion.
The World Bank also estimates that the current conflict may “cause Lebanon’s real GDP growth rate to fall by at least 6.6% in 2024.” Salam added that the country’s struggling economy could shrink by 8% to 12% next year.
“Lebanon’s reconstruction efforts face significant and urgent funding challenges,” Laila Al Amine, Mercy Corps’ Lebanon country director, told CNBC.
“The conflict has caused widespread damage to roads, water facilities, schools, hospitals and power plants, requiring significant resources, skilled labor and time to rebuild. Funding remains a key obstacle as much of the promised humanitarian aid has yet to materialize. Disbursed ,” Al-Amin added.
“We are receiving humanitarian aid from all Gulf countries,” Bou Habib told CNBC.
Regarding further financial assistance, he added: “We have not yet started discussions on further assistance for the reconstruction and reconstruction of infrastructure in Lebanon, we will do so soon and see what happens.”
Gulf Arab states helped rebuild Lebanon after the 2006 war, but years of economic decline and an emboldened Hezbollah may now prevent the international community, particularly in the Middle East, from helping Lebanon’s costly reconstruction.
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