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Middle East conflict

Beirut sees current developments as beginning of Third Lebanon War, says envoy

According to Chawki Bou Nassar, Israeli officials’ statements that the country’s military operation is not aimed against the Lebanese people but against Hezbollah are "not at all correct"

MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. Beirut believes that the current escalation of tensions on the country’s southern border marks the beginning of the Third Lebanon War, Lebanese Ambassador to Russia Chawki Bou Nassar said in an interview with TASS.

"Of course, it could be labeled as the third Lebanese-Israeli war because any party in Lebanon, Hezbollah or any other party is a Lebanese party, you know. And those who are getting killed are Lebanese people, regardless of their political beliefs or regardless of their faith or regardless of their religion," he noted, when asked if the current situation could be described as the third Israeli-Lebanese war.

According to the envoy, Israeli officials’ statements that the country’s military operation is not aimed against the Lebanese people but against Hezbollah are "not at all correct."

"Lebanon is paying a price from the blood of its people. And Lebanon is being prized by the Israeli targeting of its territory in Beirut and so many regions in the country. That's why we can say that the reality is that Israel is fighting Lebanon," the diplomat added.

On September 23, Israel launched Operation Northern Arrows against the Lebanon-based Hezbollah Shia movement, carrying out massive airstrikes on its military targets. The stated goal is to create safe conditions for the return of local residents to Israel’s northern border areas. A September 27 strike on Beirut killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The Israeli army announced the start of a ground operation in the border areas of southern Lebanon in the early hours of October 1.

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Middle East conflict

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