Egypt offers to mediate in Lebanon as Israel threatens escalation

Lebanon is reaching out to regional and world powers amid an uptick in Israeli threats, following stark warnings from Israeli officials that Beirut must disarm Hezbollah or face consequences, and strikes continue to pound the country's south.

Tensions continued on Monday morning, with injuries reported after a vehicle in southern Lebanon was targeted in an alleged Israeli strike.

Hezbollah-aligned media also reported Israeli gunfire near the border town of Kfarshouba, despite a truce being officially in place.

Egyptian, German and American officials have all visited Beirut in recent days amid rising speculation that Israel will resume its full-scale war against Hezbollah, ending a ceasefire that came into effect almost a year ago.

The biggest intervention came from Egypt, with intelligence chief Hassan Rashad offering to mediate between Lebanon and Israel during talks with officials in Beirut last week, according to The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site Al Araby Al Jadeed.

During the discussions, the Egyptian delegation welcomed Beirut's decision to pursue disarmament of Hezbollah and expressed concern about Israel's intensifying attacks, stressing the need to stabilise the fraying ceasefire.

"There is optimism about the role Egypt can play, especially since it understands Lebanon's political nature better, supports the steps taken by the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army, and stresses the need for Israel to stop its aggression," a Lebanese source told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The source said that the government told foreign officials that it is open to direct talks but Israel must comply with the ceasefire agreement.

Israel has not responded to calls for talks, while Defence Minister Israel Katz on Sunday threatened to intensify attacks in Lebanon if it does not move to disarm the Shia group.

"Hezbollah is playing with fire and the president of Lebanon is dragging his feet," he said.

The threat came just hours after four people were killed and others injured in a fresh Israeli airstrike in the south of the country.

Despite the official truce, the Israeli military has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Lebanon over the past year and continues to occupy parts of the country's south in violation of the ceasefire.

Israeli troops last week killed a municipal worker during a raid into Lebanese territory, resulting in President Joseph Aoun instructing the army to "confront" future incursions.

During a visit to the Lebanese capital on Friday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul described Israel's ongoing aggression as "unacceptable" and encouraged Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's government to continue pushing Hezbollah to surrender its weapons.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a year-long conflict after the Iran-backed group began firing missiles across the border in October 2023 in response to Israel's attack on Gaza.

During the war Israel assassinated many of its senior officials, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah and his successor Hashem Safieddine.

Israeli strikes devastated the south and hit other parts of the country, including Beirut, causing major political and economic instability in Lebanon.

Under the ceasefire, the Lebanese army has been deployed across the south and started dismantling Hezbollah's infrastructure and confiscating its weapons.

The government has committed to fully disarming the group across the country by the end of the year, but it is unclear how it can achieve this without sparking internal conflict.

US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack acknowledged the risks of attempting to strip Hezbollah of its weapons at an event on Saturday.

"It is not reasonable for us to tell Lebanon to forcibly disarm one of its political parties. Everybody is scared to death to go into a civil war," he said the Manama Dialogue summit in Bahrain.