BEIRUT, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Lebanon’s presidency said on Saturday it had been told by the U.S. ambassador that Israel would not escalate against Lebanon as long as there are no hostile acts from the Lebanese side, following the launch of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Lebanon’s Shi’ite Muslim armed group Hezbollah, long one of Tehran’s principal allies in the Middle East, expressed solidarity with Iran on Saturday but stopped short of saying whether it would get involved.
In its statement, Hezbollah said the U.S.-Israeli actions would “affect everyone without exception if left unchallenged”. “We are confident that the American and Israeli enemy will receive a major blow,” it said.
Israel has warned Beirut that it would strike Lebanon hard, targeting civilian infrastructure including the airport, if Hezbollah involved itself in any U.S.-Iran war.
The U.S. embassy in Lebanon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on a statement from the office of President Joseph Aoun about the message he had received from U.S. Ambassador Michel Issa. The office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also did not comment.
Hezbollah has fought numerous conflicts with Israel since being established by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, but was severely weakened by Israel in a war in 2024 when its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he would not accept anyone dragging Lebanon into “adventures that threaten its security and unity”, a veiled message to Hezbollah.
In a statement released after Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran, Salam noted the “serious developments” in the region and called on “all Lebanese to act with wisdom and patriotism, placing Lebanon and the Lebanese people’s interests above any other consideration”.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily, Laila Bassam in Beirut; Jana Choukeir in Dubai; Pesha Magid in Jerusalem; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Kevin Liffey, Peter Graff)
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