Lebanon’s Mikati warns of ‘all-out war’ amid growing tension with Israel

By Wassim Seif El Din

BEIRUT (AA) – Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday warned of an all-out war in the region due to Israeli “provocations.”

“The continuation of Israeli provocations in southern Lebanon could lead to a deterioration of the situation and the outbreak of an all-out war in the region,” Mikati said during a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron in Beirut, according to a cabinet statement.

The Lebanese premier called for exerting “maximum pressure to stop the Israeli attacks on the south.”

“The gateway to stopping the war in Gaza begins with a cease-fire, then moving on to negotiating a solution based on the two-state formula and giving the Palestinians their rights,” Mikati said.

Cameron, for his part, said the escalation "from Gaza to Lebanon, the Red Sea or across the region as a whole would raise the level of risks and insecurity in the world," according to a statement published on his X account.

"I’m grateful to Lebanese Prime Minister [Mikati] for discussing these crucial issues with me today and for Lebanon’s efforts to prevent such escalation," he added.

Tension has flared along the border between Lebanon and Israel amid intermittent exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006.

The border tension comes amid an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar