Egypt announces contacts to contain Israeli escalation against Lebanon

Egypt – Egypt confirmed, yesterday, Monday, that it is holding contacts with several parties to contain the Israeli escalation against Lebanon.

This came during two phone calls made by Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aati with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his Lebanese counterpart Abdullah Bou Habib, according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

According to the statement, Abdel-Ati expressed during the two calls “Egypt’s full solidarity with Lebanon, and its rejection of any threats aimed at destabilizing it or the safety of its people.”

He also expressed “Egypt’s deep concern over the ongoing escalation between Lebanese factions and Israel, and its potential impact on Lebanon’s security and stability.”

The Egyptian Foreign Minister briefed the Lebanese officials on the contacts that Cairo is conducting with various parties with the aim of “containing the ongoing escalation and preventing the region from drifting into a large-scale war that threatens the stability of its countries and the security of its peoples.”

Abdel-Ati stressed the “necessity of supporting the Lebanese state and preserving the interests of the Lebanese people in the face of the threats surrounding them.”

The Egyptian and Lebanese sides agreed to “continue consultations during the next stage with the aim of coordinating efforts to contain tension and escalation,” according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

Against the backdrop of the killing of 12 Druze, most of them children, and the injury of others, on Saturday, as a result of a missile falling on a football field in the town of Majdal Shams in the Syrian Golan Heights, expectations are increasing of a major escalation between the Israeli army and the Lebanese factions.

While the Israeli army accused the Lebanese factions of being behind this incident and vowed to respond, the party “categorically” denied any responsibility for it.

On Sunday evening, the Israeli Security Cabinet tasked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant with determining how and when to attack the Lebanese factions, against the backdrop of the Majdal Shams incident.

Since October 8, 2023, Lebanese and Palestinian factions in Lebanon have been exchanging daily shelling with the Israeli army across the “Blue Line” separating them, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries, most of them on the Lebanese side.

The Lebanese factions are linking the cessation of the bombing to Israel ending the war it has been waging with American support on the Gaza Strip since October 7, which has left more than 130,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing.

Anatolia