Western and Arab diplomats have relayed new Israeli warnings to the Lebanese government, saying that “the Israeli government can no longer remain idle over what’s happening in its northern regions” and that it is “cornered” due to “pressures from the population, from key parties in the governmental coalition and from some security and military officials,” a media report said.
“That’s why Israel will find itself obliged to take harsh steps to change the equation on the border in order to resolve its domestic crisis,” the diplomats warned Lebanon, according to unnamed sources quoted by Lebanon’s al-Binaa newspaper.
“Israel has told mediators that it prefers a diplomatic solution through border arrangements that would represent security guarantees for Israel and accordingly for the displaced settlers who want to return to their homes,” the sources added.
Annahar newspaper meanwhile reported “intensive Arab and European diplomatic efforts” to prevent “what many countries believe will be a major Israeli operation in Lebanon that precedes the date of the U.S. presidential vote.”
“Several Lebanese leaders have been informed of this information and atmosphere but no one is disclosing them,” the daily added.
Ad-Diyar newspaper for its part quoted informed political sources as saying that “the Israeli statements about an all-out war are mainly aimed at boosting the morale of the Israeli population, after northern Israel’s residents were displaced and the resistance’s drones reached Haifa and Safad.”