BEIRUT: The European Union foreign policy chief on Saturday warned against a regional conflict that would involve Lebanon, as border clashes intensified nearly three months into the Gaza crisis.

“It is imperative to avoid regional escalation in the Middle East. It is absolutely necessary to avoid Lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict,” Josep Borrell said during a press conference in Beirut with Leba­non’s foreign minister.

“I am sending this message to Israel too: nobody will win from a regional conflict,” he added. Lebanon’s Hezbollah group and Israel have exchanged near-daily cross-border fire since the Oct 7 Hamas raid in Israel.

But a strike in Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold that killed Hamas’s deputy leader, Saleh Al Aruri, on Tuesday intensified fears of a wider conflagration.

A US Defence Department official said Israel carried out the strike that killed Aruri. Israel has not claimed responsibility.

The Lebanese group on Saturday said it retaliated by launching dozens of rockets at a northern Israeli base. Israel’s army said it identified around 40 rocket launches from Lebanese territory, and struck a cell responsible for some of them.

“I think that the war can be prevented, has to be avoided and diplomacy can prevail,” Borrell told reporters. “Diplomatic channels have to be open to signal that the war is not the only option. It is the worst option,” he said.

Earlier on Saturday, Borrell met Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) commander Aroldo Lazaro and the influential speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri.

His visit is part of a push by Western diplomats to avoid further regional escalation, especially on the Lebanon-Israel border, and call for a resolution of the Gaza crisis.

After his meeting with Borrell, Mikati warned that “any large-scale escalation in south Lebanon could push the region to completely explode”.

On Wednesday, Borrell had warned Aruri’s killing could “cause an escalation of the conflict”, and urged the international community to “impose” a solution for lasting peace between Israel and Palestinians.

Nearly three months of cross-border fire have killed more than 175 people in Lebanon, including 130 Hezbollah fighters but also more than 20 civilians, including three journalists.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2024