Lebanon calls for avoiding full-blown war with Israel

The Lebanese government called Thursday for avoiding a full-blown war with Israel, a day after a Hezbollah operation killed two Israeli soldiers in the occupied Shebaa Farms.

According to Information Minister Tamzi Jreij, the cabinet discussed the situations in the South and some ministers expressed their stances in a calm debate during which all parties showed keenness on avoiding deterioration, the National News Agency reported.

The cabinet condemned the Israeli attacks against some southern towns in the wake of the operation in Shebaa, urging the UN to "shoulder its responsibilities in preventing attempts to jeopardize peace in this region," Jreij said.

The council of ministers called for "depriving the Israeli enemy of the chance to drag Lebanon into an all-out confrontation that would threaten the entire region," stressing its commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and the UN forces' role in southern Lebanon.

It also offered condolences over the death of a Spanish UN peacekeeper who was killed by Israeli retaliatory shelling after Hezbollah's operation.

The cabinet underlined that "confronting any aggression must occur through the unity and solidarity of the Lebanese before anything else," Jreij added.

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and seven others wounded in Hezbollah's attack. The Shiite militant party announced that its "Quneitra Martyrs Group" targeted an Israeli military convoy in the Shebaa Farms.

The operation comes in response to a Jan. 18 Israeli air raid on a Hezbollah convoy in Syria's Quneitra which killed six Hezbollah fighters, including prominent militants, and a top Iranian general. Endit