Broken Lebanon cannot afford war, and Hezbollah knows it
Source: Reuters
Broken Lebanon cannot afford war, and Hezbollah knows it
Laila Bassam and Tom Perry
Thu, October 26, 2023 at 10:11 AM EDT·5 min read
BEIRUT (Reuters) - With an economy in ruins and a crumbling state, Lebanon can ill afford another war between Hezbollah and Israel.
Iran-backed Hezbollah knows this and is keeping Lebanon's crises in mind as it plots the next steps in the conflict with Israel, sources say.
As the war between Israel and Hezbollah's Palestinian ally Hamas reverberates across the Middle East, the risk of war between Hezbollah and Israel remains higher than at any point since their last big conflict in 2006.
Analysts say the Shi'ite group could escalate if Hamas appears to be on the ropes in the Gaza Strip 200 km (130 miles) away, while Lebanese leaders fear Israel could chose to instigate a major conflict with Hezbollah.
But with Israel warning Hezbollah it would wreak "devastation" upon Lebanon were the group to open the front, the costs of any war loom large in a country already suffering one of the most destabilising phases since its 1975-90 civil war.
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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/broken-lebanon-cannot-afford-war-141132002.html
