“Lebanon doing its best not to get involved”: Envoy calls for ‘peaceful solution’ to West Asia conflict

Because of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in West Asia, Lebanese Ambassador to India Rabie Narsh has called for a “peaceful solution” to the conflict, adding that a “two-state solution” is the only way out of the crisis.
“The situation in Lebanon is tense.” Of course, it’s tense and worrying. We are concerned because we have witnessed Israeli aggression. We are well aware that Israel poses a serious threat. And we have witnessed Israel’s harsh aggression. So, yes, we are concerned, and the situation is extremely tense,” the Lebanese Ambassador told ANI in an interview.
“However, we are making every effort to keep the situation limited to what we have seen in the past.” Concerning the possibility of Hezbollah joining the ongoing conflict amid talk of a two-front war, the envoy stated that “there is a possibility of escalation,” but that his government is “doing its best not to get involved in this conflict.”

“Given the fact that the societies in the Middle East are so interrelated that we consider ourselves the Arab race. I mean, one family or one people. So what hurts a Palestinian would hurt a Syrian, a Lebanese and every Arab. So, given this fact and the fact that the human loss is unbearable, what we have seen in Gaza is genocide, as well as ethnic cleansing from the Israeli side. So, there is a possibility of course of escalation,” said the Lebanese envoy. “But having said that, again, our government is doing all its best not to involve Lebanon or not to drag Lebanon into this war. We are not interested in war, but obviously, Israel is interested in war. That’s why they kept provoking Hezbollah and provoking the situation by bombing homes in southern Lebanon”, added the envoy.

Earlier, the head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah met with top leaders of Palestinian terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, according to the Times of Israel.
The Israeli publication published an image of Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri, and Islamic Jihad chief Ziad al-Nakhala that was tweeted on social media X.
Previously, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned that if Israel continues to bombard Gaza, fighting could spill over onto “new fronts.”
“Time is running out very fast,” Abdollahian said in a live televised interview with Iranian state television. “If the war crimes against the Palestinians are not immediately stopped, other multiple fronts will open and this is inevitable,” according to the New York Times.

While discussing India’s position in the conflict, the envoy stated that ‘India is a peace-loving country’ and that his country calls for greater involvement and pressure from the Indian side on the Israelis. “India is a peace-loving country. India is a big player in the international community. They have the rising power and they have lots of responsibilities because, with this and promoting themselves, I mean, they are a peace-loving country and they do have lots of things to do with this crisis. Of course, they are in contact with the leaders in our region, but we also call for more involvement and more pressure from India on the Israeli side to stop this madness,” said the envoy.

When asked if Lebanon and India had spoken, the envoy stated that there had been “no direct or bilateral contact between Indian officials and Lebanese officials,” though they “are in continuous cooperation and coordination with the Indian side.”
The envoy praised India’s peacekeeping presence in Lebanon, saying that ‘India has a big role to play’.

“This is very much commendable. We always commend India. Like I said, India is a peace-loving country, and they are maybe one of the biggest contingents in Lebanon in the peacekeeping forces. We are happy to see this Indian contribution to peace and stability in Lebanon. We commend India for that and we asked them to keep up this peaceful presence in Lebanon because, like I said, India has a big role to play,” stated the envoy.

The conflict in Gaza erupted following Hamas’s October 7 attack, in which approximately 2,500 terrorists breached the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip, resulting in casualties and the capture of hostages.
According to The Times of Israel, Israel has described its Gaza offensive as targeting Hamas infrastructure with the goal of eliminating the terror group as a whole while minimizing civilian casualties.
Since October 7, at least 7,326 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks. The Hamas attack on Israel claimed the lives of over 1,400 people. write it in a different way