Lebanese ambassador: Netanyahu would rather lead region to brink of all-out war than face political destiny
Lebanese ambassador Rami Mortada told Sky News that the Middle East was closer to a “no-one-can-miss” regional war than it has been in the last 50 years.
He said Israel’s “war crimes” had brought the region “to the brink of all-out war.”
Mortada said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “holding the entire region hostage” to avoid his own political fate.
“We are faced with an Israeli prime minister who wants to keep his country in a state of continuous war in order to postpone the collapse of the coalition government and the risk of corruption charges in court.”
He said the regime had expanded the war with attacks on Lebanon and deliberately undermined ceasefire talks in Gaza.
“I always say that Prime Minister Netanyahu is like riding a bicycle. The moment he stops, he will fall.”
“So he needs to continually lead his country down a path of war and violence, because the moment he stops, he will face the consequences at home.”
Asked if he had a message for Israelis, Mortada said if they want peace, they must elect officials who respond to peace efforts.
Mortada said the explosions in Lebanon over the past two days violated international law, saying: “According to the UN, this act amounts to a war crime, as it involves the indiscriminate targeting of civilians, regardless of whether they are members of armed groups or civilians.”
“They detonated 5,000 of them without any prior knowledge of who was using these devices or the locations around the devices.”