From the Liveblog of
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Gantz warns Iran seeking ‘regional hegemony’ by pursuing role in Lebanon diplomacy
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Iran’s offer to join negotiations over the future of southern Lebanon proves that Tehran is looking to achieve “regional hegemony,” tweets National Unity chairman and former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz.
On Friday, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati accused Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf of what he called “blatant interference” after the Iranian official said Iran could participate in negotiations over the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, passed in 2006 to end the Second Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah.
Responding to the tiff between Beirut and Tehran, Gantz states that “the state and vibrant people of Lebanon have been held captive by Iran and its terror-army proxy Hezbollah for too long.”
“The threat Hezbollah poses to Israel’s border will and must be eliminated, but the international community must also stand resolute in enforcing its decisions and together with the government and people of Lebanon, repel the coercive Iranian attempts to assume patronship over Lebanon by the fundamentalist Ayatollahs and their axis,” he tweets.
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