UK foreign and defense secretaries meet Lebanese leaders amid regional tensions

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defense Secretary John Healey arrived Thursday in Beirut following a trip to Qatar.

They met with Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib following their arrival before heading to the Grand Serail for talks with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Mikati told the British officials that “the solution can only be political, through the implementation of international resolutions, including Resolution 1701,” calling on the UK and the international community to “press Israel to halt its aggression,” his office said.

Lammy for his part called on all parties to respect Resolution 1701 and implement it with all its stipulations, as the British defense secretary lauded the partnership between the Lebanese and British armies and called for resolving all conflicts through dialogue and diplomatic means, Mikati’s office said.

“Violence will have dire consequences for everyone,” the office quoted Healey as saying.

Berri meanwhile told the British visitors that “Lebanon does not want war but at the same time is ready to defend itself.”

He added that Resolution 1701 can be implemented through “a permanent cessation of the aggression against the Gaza Strip or through a several-week truce.”

The British delegation for its part told Berri that the UK sees a need to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, expressing grave concern over the latest escalation and warning that any miscalculation might lead to an expansion of the war in the region, Berri’s office said.

Britain says Lammy and Healey have traveled to the region to call for an end to the conflict in Gaza and de-escalation in the wider region.

"Escalation and destabilization are in no one’s interests. It is absolutely vital that we engage closely with partners like Qatar, who play a key role in mediating the conflict in Gaza, so that we can bring this devastating war to an end," Lammy said in a statement while in Doha.

For his part, Healey stated: "De-escalation must be our primary focus as this region stands at a crossroads. The loss of innocent life in recent weeks and months is unbearable. This has to end."

"All sides must step back from conflict and step-up diplomacy," he said, adding that they will work with partners like Qatar for a renewed push for peace.

Tension have peaked between Hezbollah and Israel following a rare airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs that killed the group’s most senior military commander Fouad Shukur, an Iranian military adviser and five Lebanese civilians. The strike also wounded dozens of people.

Hour later, Palestinian group Hamas announced that its leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Iran’s capital Tehran, prompting Iran’s leaders to threaten revenge.