Paris agrees to monitor the Lebanese parliamentary elections
Parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri dismissed concerns on Monday that Hizbullah might launch attacks on Israel”s northern border to support Palestinians coping with the Zionist state”s deadly assault on the Gaza Strip.
"Yesterday, Hizbullah said that they would do nothing. I think that”s a good thing for Lebanon," he said in Paris after having lunch with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon .
"Lebanon”s political parties know well what would be the consequences of a war with Israel today. We can see what is happening in Gaza and I”m sure that Hizbullah will make no bad mistake this time," he added.
Hariri made the remarks as France is engaged in a diplomatic campaign to rally international support for a renewed cease-fire in Gaza.
In July and August 2006, Israel waged a destructive war on Lebanon after a cross-border raid by Hizbullah aimed at capturing soldiers to exchange for Lebanese held in Israel.
The fighting lasted for 34 days and left 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, dead.
Since December 27, Israeli forces have been battering Gaza in what they say is a response to rockets fired by Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group that runs Gaza. Some have expressed fear that fighting might break out in Lebanon as well. Several Lebanese leaders have played down the risk, however, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says his country has no desire to open up a second front.
Hizbullah has recently described Hamas” fighters as its "brothers in arms" and the Lebanese party”s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has called for a new uprising against Israel.
On a separate level, Hariri said that France would send observers to monitor crucial Lebanese parliamentary elections in June.
"I asked for observers at the coming elections, and I received a positive answer, from the prime minister and the president," he said. "When Lebanon asks for French or European observers, France will be first in line to send these observers," he added.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy”s, who is due Tuesday in Lebanon as part of a Middle East tour to try to secure a cease-fire in Gaza, called in an interview on Monday for a "transparent and democratic" vote in the country.
Sarkozy said Paris was prepared to "help ensure the good conduct of the election," alongside its international and European Union partners.
Lebanon”s Interior Ministry announced on Monday that the elections had been scheduled for June 7.
Also Monday, Information Minister Tarek Mitri said that all factions in Lebanon”s governing coalition, including Hizbullah, were keen not to get dragged into another conflict with Israel, "at least for now."
"This expression of solidarity, of a unified position, of an emphasis on stability … is tantamount to saying that Lebanon as a country of many factions doesn”t want to see itself dragged into this conflict," Mitri told reporters. "We have not received from Hizbullah any sign that they will risk dragging Lebanon into this conflict," he said as Israel”s deadly onslaught against Gaza entered its 10th day.
Mitri said the Lebanese government, in which Hizbullah is represented, has made it clear it does not want another war with Israel.
"The stakes are high in Lebanon and I think the population in the South doesn”t want another conflict," he said. "There is consensus in the country that there is no interest for Lebanon to have another war in the South."
He warned, however, that if the conflict in Gaza drags on and casualties mount, there could be an escalation.
"The more there is a delay for the international community to act, the more there is anger and radicalization of hearts and minds which could lead to a spillover of the violence," Mitri said. "Whether this would lead Hizbullah to react, I don”t know," he added.
The minister also stated that Lebanon”s 12 refugee camps, which house the vast majority of the 400,000 Palestinians living in the country, had also shown restraint so far despite the crisis facing their counterparts in Gaza."There is anger and natural solidarity with the people of Gaza but the expressions of anger have not been expressions that threaten stability in the camps or the country," he said.
The minister also emphasized that Lebanon had called for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire in Gaza and warned that a humanitarian
crisis was in the making for the tiny territory”s 1.5 million strong population.
"The people in Gaza have been for long victims of occupation and blockade and now they are victims of [this] assault," he said.
At least 555 people have died in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive, according to Palestinian medics. Three Israeli civilians and two soldiers have also died.
Also Monday, Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Michel Aoun said that Israel”s war on Gaza would end in a Palestinian victory.
"The resistance in Gaza is heroic despite the painful humanitarian situation," he told reporters after a meeting of his Change and Reform parliamentary bloc.
Aoun also called on international humanitarian organizations to act in response to human rights violations in Gaza.
As for the Lebanese front, the FPM chief, a close ally of Hizbullah, said that "nothing will happen in Lebanon unless Israel decides to expand its war."
MP Michel Murr also said after meeting Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir on Monday that Nasrallah "would not drag himself or Lebanon into this war."
Murr described as "good" recent remarks by Nasrallah about not allowing Israel to pull Hizbullah into a war.
"I believe that Sayyed Nasrallah knows how to deal with this situation without having to take any military action that would bring about destruction to Lebanon," he said.
Meanwhile, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt reiterated on Monday his call for Palestinians to unite in the face of the Israeli aggression in Gaza.
"Israel seems not to have learned the lessons of the past … that military solutions will only increase and strengthen the resistance," he told his party”s Al-Anbaa weekly.
Jumblatt also slammed the United Nations Security Council for failing to act so far while the Palestinian people are facing "genocide in Gaza."
He added that the situation in Gaza requires a firm position from the international community "not only to save the Palestinian people, but also to save its role in preserving international peace."
Also Monday, Muslim and Christian clerics met at the headquarters of the Higher Shiite Council in a southern suburb of Beirut in solidarity with Gaza.
The meeting was attended by clerics representing Lebanon”s different Muslim and Christian confessions.
Most speakers at the meeting urged the Arab and international communities to take action to end the Israeli aggression.