Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said that Israel’s presence in the Shebaa Farms justifies Hezbollah’s existence even though Syria has presented maps claiming the area.
According to a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), he also said that getting rid of Hezbollah would lead to a civil war and that international aid would be needed before getting rid of the organization.
In the interview on Feb. 21 on LBC TV (Lebanon), Habib said: “Hezbollah has weapons, right? Some Arab countries accuse Hezbollah of interfering in their domestic matters. If they are asking us to ban Hezbollah. ... That is out of the question for us, because this would lead to a civil war. The Lebanese do not want a civil war.”
Interviewer: “But is this a choice between civil war and implementing international resolutions?”
Habib: “Not at all. It requires a process, it requires a mechanism, a dialogue, a discussion.”
He continued, according to MEMRI: “To those who call on us to finish [Hezbollah], I say: We can’t. We cannot do it militarily or diplomatically. We need help. We need help from the U.N., and we need help from the region. They should help us. So far, nobody has helped us.”
