Lebanon received warnings Israel preparing wide-scale attack: Foreign minister

BEIRUT/ISTANBUL

Lebanon has received warnings from unnamed Arab and international parties indicating that Israel is preparing to launch a wide-scale military operation against the country, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said Friday.

Beirut is intensifying its diplomatic contacts “to protect Lebanon and its facilities from any potential strike,” Raggi said in statements carried by Lebanon’s National News Agency NNA.

On Thursday evening, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported that the Israeli army has “completed preparations in recent weeks for a wide attack on Hezbollah-linked sites if the Lebanese government and army fail to meet their commitment to dismantle the group’s weapons by the end of 2025.”

Israel “has informed the US that it will act on its own to disarm Hezbollah if this is not done effectively, even if it leads to days of fighting or a renewal of clashes on the northern front,” the broadcaster quoted a senior, unnamed security official.

Raggi clarified that “the ongoing meetings within the mechanism committee are not traditional negotiations with Israel.”

The mechanism committee was established under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, in effect since late November 2024. It is tasked with monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire and includes Lebanon, France, Israel, the US, and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon.

“We are seeking a return to the Armistice Agreement with Israel, while a peace treaty remains far off at this stage,” the Lebanese foreign minister said.

In the same context, he said: “Hezbollah’s weapons have demonstrated limited effectiveness in operations supporting Gaza and in defending Lebanon.”

He added that the Lebanese state is engaged in dialogue with Hezbollah “to persuade it to hand over its weapons,” noting that the group “has so far refused.”

Raggi described Iran’s role in Lebanon and the region as “negative,” saying that “Tehran’s policies are a source of instability.”

He noted that Lebanon has “a problem with Iran but remains open to dialogue, provided it stops interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs and funding any non-legitimate organizations inside the country,” according to NNA.

The Israeli broadcaster’s report on expanding operations against Hezbollah was the second by Israeli media within two weeks.

On Nov. 30, Channel 13 reported that “the Israeli army presented an operational plan to expand attacks against Hezbollah during a special meeting held with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, attended by several ministers and security officials.”

A ceasefire has been in place in Lebanon since November 2024, after more than a year of attacks that killed more than 4,000 people and injured 17,000 others against the backdrop of the Israeli genocidal war in Gaza.

At least 335 people have been killed and 973 others wounded in 1,038 Israeli attacks since the ceasefire took effect, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

The Israeli army was supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon in January 2025 under the ceasefire, but instead only partially pulled out and continues to maintain a military presence at five border outposts.