Lebanon abandoned by international community - ex PM

Lebanon’s prime minister at the time of its last war with Israel in 2006 has told the BBC his country has been abandoned by the international community.

Fouad Siniora said it was unacceptable to leave Lebanon to fall, and there was a lack of initiative when it came to trying to restore peace.

"We are now in a very difficult situation that requires real effort locally, as well on the Arab side and internationally.

"You can push things - sometimes to the brink of falling - in a major catastrophe without really realising what it means later on.

"It's happening at a time when the American administration is so busy with the elections.

"And we are unable to elect a president, because some groups in the country, particularly Hezbollah, have been insisting that they want a president that will not stab that group in the back," Siniora said.

The last war between Lebanon and Israel, nearly 20 years ago, began when Hezbollah fighters crossed the border and attacked Israeli soldiers. Two were kidnapped and three were killed, sparking a month-long conflict.

In the days that followed, Siniora made a public statement distancing the Lebanese government from what had happened.

He thinks the country’s current leaders have failed their people by not doing the same thing.

"This government did not do what my government did that day. My government was very clear and determined in stating that we were not aware, and we were not informed, of Hezbollah’s plan to cross the Blue Line on the border and to kidnap and kill Israeli soldiers.

"This time there hasn't been any move made by the Lebanese government. The advantage of what we did is that we created a distance between the Lebanese government and Lebanon on the one hand, and Hezbollah on the other," he explained.

Siniora is unflinching in his assessment of Lebanon’s lost sovereignty.

"Practically, Lebanon as a state has been kidnapped by Hezbollah. And behind Hezbollah is Iran.

"This gun that was held by Hezbollah, instead of being pointed towards Israel, started to be pointed domestically and started to be used as a way for Iran to interfere in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen. Lebanon can’t get involved in such a war."

Siniora was also one of the architects of UN resolution 1701, the agreement which ended the 2006 war.

Among its conditions was that a swathe of southern Lebanon - the area south of the landmark Litani river - should be kept as a buffer zone between the two sides, free of any Hezbollah fighters or weapons.

Despite the deployment of the UN peacekeeping force Unifil and the presence of the Lebanese army, that didn’t happen. Hezbollah’s people, and its military infrastructure, remained bedded into the area.

This vacuum at the top of the Lebanese political system has made Hezbollah’s influence on the country particularly difficult to control.

Lebanon has been without a properly functioning government since its last set of elections in 2022, being run instead by a caretaker administration.

When President Michel Aoun’s term ended nearly two years ago, lawmakers couldn’t agree on his replacement - so the job remains empty. Many Lebanese believe leadership is in short supply.

Siniora is also clear that the conflict in Lebanon should not be inextricably linked to the current year-old war in Gaza.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has visited regional capitals, calling for simultaneous ceasefires in both Lebanon and Gaza.

“Since October 2023 things have been dragging and getting worse and worse. Many chances were made available to dissociate the Lebanese situation from Gaza. It’s very important nationally and from an Arab point of view to associate with Gaza," Siniora said.

"But particularly now Lebanon cannot afford, in principle, to get involved in such a matter.

"When the Gaza situation has become 2.2 million Palestinians homeless and all of Gaza destroyed, to continue to link Lebanon's situation with Gaza is not wise."