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Agence France-Presse

Israel said it does not want war in Lebanon but could send its neighbour “back to the Stone Age”, as the UN’s humanitarian chief warned such a conflict would be “potentially apocalyptic”.
The border between the two countries has seen daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants ever since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hezbollah’s ally Hamas, which triggered the war in Gaza.
Fears those exchanges could escalate into full-blown war have only grown in recent weeks as cross-border attacks intensified, and after Israel revealed it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive, prompting new threats from Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said during a visit to Washington on Wednesday that his country could “take Lebanon back to the Stone Age, but we don’t want to do it”.

“We do not want war, but we are preparing for every scenario,” he told reporters.
“Hezbollah understands very well that we can inflict massive damage in Lebanon if a war is launched.”
Israel’s allies, including key defence backer the United States, have been keen to avoid such an eventuality. A US official said Washington was engaged in “fairly intensive conversations” with Israel, Lebanon and other actors, and believed that no side sought a “major escalation”.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told Gallant on Tuesday that another war with Hezbollah could have “terrible consequences for the Middle East”, and urged a diplomatic solution.
Germany on Wednesday, echoing a Canadian warning from the day before, “urgently requested” its citizens in Lebanon leave the country.
“The current heightened tensions in the border area with Israel could escalate further at any time,” updated foreign ministry advice in Berlin said.
UN humanitarian coordinator Martin Griffiths told reporters in Geneva on Wednesday that Lebanon was “the flashpoint beyond all flashpoints”.
“It’s beyond planning. It’s potentially apocalyptic,” warned Griffiths, whose term ends this week.

A war involving Lebanon “will draw in Syria... it will draw in others”, he added. “It’s very alarming.”
Hezbollah leader Hassan said in a speech last week said militant leaders from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and other countries have previously offered to send tens of thousands of fighters to help Hezbollah, but he said the group already has more than 100,000 fighters.
“We told them, thank you, but we are overwhelmed by the numbers we have,” Nasrallah said.
Lebanon’s national news agency reported about 10 Israeli strikes on areas near the border on Wednesday, including one around 10pm that destroyed a building in Nabatiyeh, wounding five people.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike.
Hezbollah on Wednesday claimed six attacks against Israeli military positions in the border region.




Prior to this conflict, Israel and Hezbollah had avoided a major clash since a month-long war in 2006, deterred since then by mutual threats of catastrophic destruction.
Hezbollah’s arsenal has grown enormously since 2006.
Hezbollah has downed Israeli drones, flown drones at Israeli targets, and used sophisticated guided rockets that capture footage as they approach their targets, images later broadcast on the group’s al-Manar TV.
Hezbollah fired Iranian-made Falaq 2 artillery rockets for the first time on June 8, able to carry a bigger warhead than the Falaq 1 it has fired in the past.
Its rockets have also set off wildfires in northern Israel.
Additional reporting by Associated Press and Reuters


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Middle East

Israel says it can send Lebanon ‘back to the Stone Age’ as UN warns against war

A civil defence worker inspects a destroyed house that was hit by an Israeli air strike, in Chebaa, a Lebanese town. Photo: AP

Smoke rises from the southern Lebanese town of Khiam amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. Photo: Reuters

A damaged Israeli military position targeted by Hezbollah in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Photo: AP

US warns Israel-Hezbollah clashes could spark regional war

A firefighter douses a fire after Israeli forces intercepted an aerial target that crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin (right) meets Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant (left) at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief says nowhere in Israel safe in an all-out war, also threatens Cyprus

Hezbollah supporters raise their fists and cheer as they watch a televised speech by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Photo: AP

An Israeli soldier at the site of an Hezbollah anti-tank missile direct hit on a house near the Lebanon border in Moshav Shtula, northern Israel. Photo: Bloomberg

Men take cover from incoming rockets in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel Photo: Reuters

US, Israel cite progress on resolving Gaza war weapons rift

Israeli army tanks in Wadi Gaza, central Gaza Strip, on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon in Washington on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

A woman holds the body of her daughter who was killed in an Israeli bombardment in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: AP

Hezbollah has offer from thousands of Iran-backed fighters to go to Lebanon to battle Israel

Fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah carry out a training exercise. Photo: AP

Thousands of fighters from Iran-backed groups in the Middle East are offering to come to Lebanon to join the militant Hezbollah group in its fight with Israel. Photo: AP

Fires and smoke rise from houses in the northern Israeli border town of Metula, after being hit by Hezbollah shelling, as seen from the Lebanese town of Marjayoun, Lebanon on Saturday. Photo: AP

US urges Israel’s defence minister to avoid Lebanon escalation

Tensions between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah are threatening to spiral into a full-blown war. Photo: AFP

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant at the US Department of State in Washington. Photo: AFP

An Israeli military vehicle near the Israel-Gaza border. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Iran-backed Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israel in parallel with the war in Gaza


Fears of an all-out war in Lebanon have risen in recent weeks as violent exchanges between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have intensified.


Israel

War and conflict

Israel-Gaza war

Lebanon