Salam says tying Lebanon to regional crises gives Israel pretext for aggression

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Thursday that tying Lebanon to regional calculations would give Israel a "pretext to expand its aggression" against the country, where Israel has been fighting Hezbollah for more than two weeks.

Lebanon was brought into the regional war on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel in response to the killing of its ally Iran's supreme leader in Israeli-U.S. attacks.

Israel responded with heavy airstrikes across various regions and ground incursions, which combined have left more than a thousand people dead.

In a speech in Beirut Salam said that "linking Lebanon to regional calculations larger than it is does not protect it. Rather, it doubles the cost for it and gives Israel a pretext to expand its aggression."

"We must read regional changes through the lens of protecting Lebanon, and we must put the national interest ahead of any other consideration."

He said "Lebanon's priority today is to stop the war, stop the destruction, stop the displacement, protect civilians, ensure their return and launch reconstruction."

Ongoing Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon and on Beirut's southern suburbs have caused the displacement of more than one million people, according to authorities.

Salam said that "restoring the authority of the state is not against anyone, nor is it a targeting of anyone. Rather, it is a protection for everyone. Lebanon has no future if it remains half a state and half a battleground."

At the beginning of March, Lebanon banned Hezbollah's military activities after having decided in August of last year to disarm the group, following the previous war it waged with Israel that lasted for more than a year and ended with a ceasefire in November 2024.