Top Lebanese leader says no serious indications of major war

There is “neither real information nor serious indications that a broad war will erupt in the region, contrary to what was widely circulated on Wednesday,” al-Joumhouria newspaper quoted a “credible” senior Lebanese leader as saying.

“There is exaggerated intimidation aimed at pressuring Hezbollah to deter it from responding to the assassination of its military chief Fouad Shukur in Beirut’s southern suburbs,” the top leader told the daily in remarks published Thursday.

“We’re already in an atmosphere of war, and accordingly the notion of descending (into war) is present in the minds of both Israel and Hezbollah. And as for what is being said about a shift in Israel’s concentration to the border with Lebanon, that has its reasons, seeing as the front in Gaza is witnessing a transformation from strategic operations to tactical operations and a war of attrition,” the leader added.

“We had previously passed through the same escalation of the past two days: once after the assassination of Palestinian leader Saleh al-Arouri in Dahieh and another after the assassination of Hezbollah military chief Hajj Fouad Shukur,” the senior leader went on to say.

Attributing the latest escalation to Hezbollah’s “success in carrying out a major operation” days ago that killed “a senior Israeli army officer” and the subsequent Israeli strikes on the Bekaa and Hezbollah’s response in the Galilee, the top leader said that “this is a continuous escalation that will not stop.”

Noting that “we are ready for war,” the leader noted that the military escalation and media campaigns are aimed at telling Hezbollah that it would be “risking going to a broad war if it retaliates to Shukur’s assassination.”

Moreover, the senior leader reassured that “there is no intel regarding any change in the Israeli army’s movements on the ground.”

“As for Hezbollah, it is willing to give the negotiations a chance until the last moment, in order to stop the war, exchange the captives and bring relief aid to Gaza’s people. The statements and public stances are not important; what’s important is what takes place around the negotiations table,” the leader added.