Lebanese officials have disagreed on the appropriate response to the recent Israeli drone attack on Hezbollah’s media offices in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
While Lebanese government officials have been calling for a diplomatic response in the form of a strongly-worded United Nations Security Council statement that would condemn the attack as a violation of Resolution 1701, Hezbollah has been mulling a military retaliation.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, an Israeli drone crashed and another exploded shortly after, causing damage to Hezbollah’s media offices.
Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah has pledged to retaliate for the attack, which he described as “very, very, dangerous.”
But Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Hezbollah would not carry out a revenge attack as long as the Israeli army is on high alert on the other side of the border.
A cabinet source told the newspaper that the Lebanese government and Hezbollah only agree that the Israeli drone attack was a violation of the country’s sovereignty.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has contacted Prime Minister Saad Hariri, saying Lebanon should avoid an escalation. He also telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, voicing support for Israel.
According to the Lebanese source, Pompeo sought to intimidate Hariri because he knows that the Prime Minister does not have a sway on Hezbollah.
Although President Michel Aoun has considered the Israeli violation a “declaration of war,” he hasn’t called for a military retaliation. Instead, he met with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis, telling him that the drone attack was in violation of Resolution 1701.
Aoun also urged the UN to play its role in preventing Israel from carrying out such attacks.
Lebanon later filed a complaint with the Security Council against the Israeli aggression.
