Contacts to Keep Lebanon Out of Regional Escalation

Diplomatic contacts between Lebanon and friendly countries have intensified to keep the country out of the fallout of any regional military escalation, amid Lebanese fears over steps Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might take before Knesset elections later this month. Ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun led these contacts, with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri brought into the loop as the link between the presidency and Hezbollah, noting that preventing a deterioration in the security situation depends on Hezbollah not engaging in any regional escalation that could occur in Iran, amid fears of a strong Israeli reaction. Aoun conveyed these concerns in a call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while the US position urges avoiding giving Netanyahu a pretext to expand his current strikes, amid a standstill over the expansion of the experimental zones in the south.