Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa'ar spoke on Wednesday with his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot about the war in Iran and particularly about Lebanon.
Sa'ar said that he emphasized that the issue of the Strait of Hormuz is not an American or Israeli issue, but rather a global one. "This is naval terrorism that harms the global economy. It began with the Houthis in the Red Sea, and now the Iranian regime itself is carrying it out. The international community’s de facto acceptance of this grave phenomenon will encourage harm to the freedom of navigation and the global economy, and it will spread to additional maritime arenas. This is a dramatic undermining of the world order," Sa'ar stated.
Regarding Lebanon, he stressed that since March 2nd, Israel has been attacked from Lebanese territory more than 2,000 times with missiles and drones. According to Sa'ar, "Israel has an interest in Lebanon joining the circle of normalization and peace in the region. The obstacle to this is Hezbollah."
"The Lebanese government must take meaningful action against Hezbollah on all fronts: weapons, sources of funding and financial infrastructure, legal measures against its leadership, its social and educational infrastructure, economic benefits (licenses), and more," Sa'ar added.
The Minister concluded that "Israel is committed to defending itself and its citizens against this terror state that has taken over Lebanon and is acting according to the Iranian regime’s interests."