BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 6 (UPI) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned Friday of a "humanitarian disaster" after Israel ordered mass evacuations in south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs, saying the country has been dragged into a devastating war it did not choose.
Speaking during a meeting with Arab and foreign ambassadors in Beirut, Salam warned that Lebanon was facing "a dangerous and trying moment" after Iran-backed Hezbollah resumed fighting, triggering massive Israeli airstrikes and deeper incursions into southern Lebanon.
"Our country has been drawn into a devastating war that we did not seek and did not choose. It was a war imposed upon us," he said, urging efforts to prevent Lebanon from plunging into further violence and chaos.
After nearly 15 months of restraint along the Lebanon-Israel border, Hezbollah fired missiles and drones into northern Israel early Monday, marking a major escalation less than two days after Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed in a strike on his bunker in Tehran at the start of the U.S.-led war on Iran.
The group's action -- seen as support for Iran in the war -- sparked intensified Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs and other areas, killing at least 217 people and wounding 798.
