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Middle East conflict

Lebanon does not rule out full-scale Israeli ground operation — ambassador to Russia

According to Shawki Bou Nassar, "nobody knows the intentions of this Israeli government"

MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. Beirut does not rule out the possibility of a full-scale Israeli ground operation in Lebanon, Ambassador to Russia Shawki Bou Nassar told TASS in an interview.

"Now the situation in my country <…> is escalating day after day. Israel is threatening to enter Lebanon in a ground assault and has already started its attempts to do so yesterday. Today [we saw it] in the border villages," the diplomat said. "Of course, the Lebanese army and the Lebanese resistance are trying to fight back to prevent Israel from achieving its objectives in the area," he pointed out.

According to the ambassador, "nobody knows the intentions of this Israeli government (the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - TASS)." "Unfortunately, the precedence of the crimes committed by the Israeli government leads us to be so cautious in evaluating the situation and the policies of the Israeli government," Bou Nassar said. "We all know that since October 2023 till now, I mean exactly one year, the Israeli aggression continues and escalates day after day in Gaza and in the occupied Palestinian territories and also in Lebanon. <...> In my country, the Israeli aggression has escalated in a very serious manner during the last two weeks," the diplomat emphasized.

"As we all know, Israel indiscriminately targets civilians and has assassinated many Lebanese politicians, including recently the secretary general of the Hezbollah party, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. In fact, in the same operation, they killed not only Hassan Nasrallah, but also maybe dozens of civilians in the building nearby," Bou Nassar underscored. "So, in my opinion, Israel has no respect whatsoever for international law, human rights, the UN Charter, and considers itself above accountability, which is the problem," he concluded.

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