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Lebanon receives international assurances about 'limited' Israeli response

Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib announced that Lebanon received international guarantees of a limited response from both Israel and Hezbollah following recent attacks.

AP

The US will not halt weapon supplies to Tel Aviv despite limited Israeli and Hezbollah actions, FM Bou Habib says. / Photo: AP

Lebanon has said that it received international assurances that an Israeli strike following a rocket attack in the Druze town of Majdal Shams will be "limited," as will the response from Hezbollah.

While Israel has blamed Hezbollah for Saturday’s attack, the Lebanese group denied responsibility.

“The United States does not support expanding the war, but if Israel wants to do so, America will not stop it and will not halt its supply of weapons,” Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib said in an interview with the Lebanese Al Jadeed channel on Sunday.

“We have received assurances from the concerned countries that the Israeli response will be limited, as will Hezbollah’s response,” added Bou Habib.

"It is both laughable and tragic that Israel, which has committed massacres in Gaza, wants to defend civilians in the occupied Syrian Golan (Heights)... and we condemn any aggression against civilians anywhere,” Bou Habib said.

Countries advise against travel to Lebanon amid Israeli conflict

Israel-occupied Golan Heights

The Golan Heights is located in southwestern Syria and is of great strategic importance.

Israel has occupied it since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and illegally annexed it in 1981, a move not recognised by the United Nations, which considers this land part of Syria.

After a four-hour emergency meeting, the Israeli Security Cabinet on Sunday authorised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to determine the manner and timing of attacking Hezbollah.

Fears have grown about a full-blown Israeli war in Lebanon amid an exchange of cross-border attacks between the Lebanese group and Tel Aviv.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of a deadly Israeli onslaught on Gaza, which has killed more than 39,300 victims since October, following an attack led by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.