Lebanon warns Hamas against dragging nation into regional wars

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun today warned that his country “will not tolerate” any parties attempting to embroil Lebanon in regional wars, as the Supreme Defence Council issued a strong warning to Hamas over “the use of Lebanese territory for hostile actions.”

The statements came during a meeting of the Supreme Defence Council convened by Aoun and attended by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

“We will not tolerate turning Lebanon into a platform for destabilisation, nor will we accept efforts to drag it into wars it seeks to avoid,” Aoun was quoted as saying at the meeting.

“While acknowledging the importance of the Palestinian cause, we will not stand idle in the face of those who expose Lebanon to danger,” he added.

Following internal discussions, the council recommended that the government issue a formal warning to the Palestinian group Hamas against “using Lebanese territory for any actions that compromise national security.”

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It emphasised that the council would take “the strictest measures and necessary actions to put an end to any violations of Lebanese sovereignty.”

There was no immediate comment from Hamas on the statement.

During the meeting, military and security officials reviewed the general security situation across Lebanon, including recent rocket fire from Lebanese territory toward Israel.

Prime Minister Salam, for his part, reiterated the government’s position during the meeting on the need to “eliminate unauthorised weapons” under Lebanon’s National Accord Document.

On 20 April, the Lebanese army reported thwarting an attempt to launch rockets from southern Lebanon toward northern Israel. This came just days after the arrest of Lebanese and Palestinian suspects connected to rocket attacks on 22 and 28 March.

The Lebanese government has since intensified border control measures to prevent further rocket launches toward Israel or Syria amid growing international pressure on Beirut to disarm Hezbollah.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place in Lebanon since November, ending months of cross-border warfare between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which escalated into a full-scale conflict in September.

Lebanese authorities have reported nearly 3,000 Israeli violations of the truce, including the killing of nearly 200 people and the injury of around 500 others.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by 26 January, but the deadline was extended to 18 February after Israel refused to comply. It still maintains a military presence at five border outposts.

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