Lebanese leaders indirectly urge Hezbollah to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict

Lebanon’s president and prime minister said Monday that their country must stay out of the conflict between Israel and Iran because any engagement would be detrimental to the small nation engulfed in an economic crisis and struggling to recover from the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.

Their remarks amounted to a message to the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group — an ally of both Iran and the Palestinian militant Hamas group in Gaza — to stay out of the fray.

Hezbollah, which launched its own strikes on Israel a day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, has been hard-hit and suffered significant losses on the battlefield until a U.S.-brokered ceasefire last November ended the 14 months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.

Earlier this year, Hamas fighters inside Lebanon fired rockets from Lebanese soil, drawing Israeli airstrikes and leading to arrests of Hamas members by Lebanese authorities.

Read more: AP