Bou Saab: War is not the solution

Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab said he met with Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday was to put him in the picture of the meeting that he has held in Rome with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein.

“Of course Mr. Speaker knew of the visit before I went to Rome. The Rome meeting was aimed at preparing for the meetings that will be held in Beirut with the U.S. envoy,” Bou Saad said after the Ain el-Tineh talks, hoping Hochstein’s visit “will be a step towards achieving the needed stability in Lebanon.”

Addressing the Israelis, Bou Saab stressed that “war cannot return the settlers to their settlements.”

“It will subject them to further displacement, perhaps to more distant settlements,” he warned.

“It might make this issue protract, not for months but maybe for years to come,” the Lebanese official cautioned.

“War is not the solution. If the objective is to return settlers to their settlements, we have the same objective, which is the return of all (Lebanese) villagers to their border villages and farms. The solution should come through diplomatic means and efforts and no one can find any other solution,” he emphasized.

Nearly three months of cross-border fire have killed more than 185 people in Lebanon, including over 140 Hezbollah fighters, but also more than 20 civilians including three journalists. In northern Israel, nine soldiers and at least four civilians have been killed, according to Israeli authorities.

The fighting has also displaced tens of thousands of Israeli and Lebanese residents on both sides of the border.