Report: Officials act to spare Lebanon war as ceasefire committee urges arms timetable
The warnings received by Lebanon with the start of the Israel-Iran conflict were not only passed on to Hezbollah but also to the Palestinian factions allied with it, especially Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, informed sources said.
'Their leaderships were unequivocally told that any military action from the Lebanese south, whether through rockets or any move of military nature, would be faced by a very firm and unprecedented Lebanese stance that includes taking totally unexpected political and security decisions,' the sources told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper in remarks published Saturday.
The sources revealed that these messages were relayed through several channels, most notably Army chief General Rodolphe Haykal, who 'communicated with Hezbollah after the Israeli strike on Iran and told it of the need to keep Lebanon neutral and not be dragged into a new confrontation, 'because this war is not our war.''
Haykal also called on Hezbollah to 'abide by the official stance that stresses that the decisions of war and peace are in the hands of the state.'
Nidaa al-Watan added that the five-party ceasefire committee has 'advised Lebanon to lay out a timetable for the handover of weapons to avoid the worse, telling it that the international community will not overlook this matter.'
'Through taking practical steps requested from it, Lebanon can fend off the specter of war, because Israel is insisting to put an end to every threat targeting it, while one of the international community's conditions for helping Lebanon is extending state's authority and collecting all illegal weapons,' the daily quoted the ceasefire committee as saying.
Lebanese officials meanwhile told the newspaper that Lebanon has carried out contacts with foreign powers in order to avoid war, specifically with the U.S. and France, and that 'an agreement was reached on Lebanon's neutrality.'
Moreover, political authorities gave the Lebanese Army a green light, especially in south Lebanon, and a state of maximum alert was declared as Hezbollah 'responded positively' to the request for staying out of the conflict, Lebanese officials told the daily.
'These messages came under direct supervision from senior state officials in parallel with international and regional coordination to spare the Lebanese front involvement in the open inferno,' the sources added.
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