NEW YORK: Lebanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib voiced disappointment with US President Joe Biden’s remarks regarding the escalating crisis between Lebanon and Israel on Tuesday, but stated he still hoped the United States could intervene to help.
“It was not promising and strong and it would not solve this issue,” Abdallah Bou Habib said of Biden’s speech at the UN earlier in the day.
Bou Habib expressed hope that the US is the only nation that can really make a difference in the region and with regard to Lebanon. The Minister for Foreign Affairs made these remarks in New York during a virtual event organized by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
He said that half a million people are estimated to have been displaced in Lebanon. He added Lebanon’s prime minister hoped to hold a meeting with US top officials over the upcoming two days.
Following almost a year of conflict against Hamas in the Gaza, Israel is shifting its focus to its border with Lebanon.
In his address, US President Joe Biden sought to calm tensions, adding full-scale conflict was not in anyone’s interest. The President told the 193-member United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) a diplomatic solution is still possible.
Hezbollah said that it wants to avoid all-out conflict and that only an end to the conflict in Gaza will stop the ongoing fighting. Gaza truce efforts are deadlocked following months of faltering dialogs mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the US. Bou Habib said Israel’s government is not seriously pursuing a negotiated end to the conflict.