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Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib announced that the number of Lebanese displaced due to the current escalation between Israel and Hezbollah is approaching half a million displaced persons.
Yesterday, Bou Habib said in an event organized by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in New York, on the sidelines of his participation in the UN General Assembly meetings, that the number of displaced people in Lebanon before the recent Israeli raids reached about 110,000 displaced people, adding: “Now their number may be approaching half a million.”
The Lebanese Foreign Minister expressed disappointment over US President Joe Biden’s statement before the United Nations regarding the Middle East, hoping that Washington would strengthen its diplomatic efforts, explaining that Biden’s statement “was not strong, it is not encouraging, and it will not solve the Lebanese problem.”
US President Joe Biden called yesterday for a diplomatic solution as Israel continues to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, warning of a full-scale war in the country.
Biden said in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly that “the outbreak of an all-out war is in no one’s interest. Despite the deterioration of the situation, a diplomatic solution is still possible.”
Biden urged Israel and Hamas to complete a ceasefire proposal put forward months ago, telling the United Nations he was committed to ending the Gaza war.
“It is time for the parties concerned to implement its provisions,” he added, referring to the agreement sponsored by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
A Lebanese security source said that an Israeli strike targeted the Saadiyat area near Beirut at dawn today, a few hours after a raid on the southern suburb of the capital.
The security source, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, spoke about an Israeli strike in Saadiyat, located on the Lebanese coast 20 km south of Beirut, indicating that the strike targeted a warehouse, while journalists reported hearing the sound of an explosion.
