BEIRUT: Lebanon risks “plunging into the abyss” amid fears of a wider war over the Israel-Hamas conflict, a senior Lebanese business leader has warned.
Mohammed Choucair, head of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, said that stockpiling of food is threatening supplies, while industrial activity in the country has been cut by more than a third because of a fall in domestic and international orders.
He appealed to “all political forces and officials to take necessary measures to prevent the national economy and the country from plunging into the abyss, as a result of the possibility of the war in the Gaza Strip expanding to Lebanon.”
Choucair said hotel occupancy rates in Lebanon have fallen to below 10 percent, with most events and conferences canceled, while the nightlife sector is all but paralyzed.
The business chief’s warning came as Hezbollah militants and Israeli forces continued skirmishing on Lebanon’s southern border.
Hezbollah said on Wednesday that two of its members had been killed in clashes with the Israeli army, pushing the group’s death toll to 36 since Oct. 8.
Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping force, said that exchanges of fire continued along the Blue Line on Wednesday, but added that no UNIFIL patrols were targeted or hit in the hostilities.
“Our peacekeepers remain on task and continue their activities, including patrols,” he said.
Israel said that five Hezbollah cells were eliminated in southern Lebanon after attempting to shell Israeli forces.
For the second day, Hezbollah targeted the Israeli military site of Jal Al-Alam with a guided missile and shelled another Israeli military target in the western sector of the border. The Israeli army responded by shelling southern border towns, hitting homes.
A military observer told Arab News that Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been in “a state of war for the past 18 days.”
He described Hezbollah’s losses as “modest” considering the terrain and advanced technology used in the military operations.
“The Israeli side does not transparently disclose its losses, while Hezbollah says it has carried out operations destroying the Israeli army’s monitoring devices and sensors along the Blue Line,” the observer said.
Israel is believed to have stationed up to 150,000 troops on its northern border with Lebanon.
But any widening of the Gaza Strip conflict by Israel would require “a regional and international political decision, and many considerations have not been met so far,” the oberserver said.
