Washington warns Arab countries against compromising Israel's security

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Countries such as Lebanon, Syria and Iraq should be prepared to take responsibility if they allow their territory to be platforms for weapons directed against Israel, a White House official said.

Commenting on recent Israeli raids on Iraq and Lebanon, he added that the United States supports Israel's right to defend itself against Iranian threats.

The official said that Israel would not need to respond if Iran decided to stop supplying Israel's neighbors with heavy weapons and militants.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron that Israel would defend itself from attacks.

Netanyahu told Macron - in contact with the initiative of the French side - that it would prevent Israel's enemies from supplying lethal weapons. He added that those who sponsor aggression and armament will not enjoy any immunity, and that the timing is not appropriate for talks with Iran at a time when it is increasing the frequency of its aggression in the region.

Escalation rejected
In Lebanon, Prime Minister Saad Hariri held Israel fully responsible for its attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

In a telephone conversation Friday with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Hariri stressed that Israel bears full responsibility for its unjustified and unprecedented attack on a residential area in the Beirut suburb since 2006, in addition to its repeated violation of UN resolution 1701.

Hariri stressed that "this unacceptable act threatens the stability and tranquility that have prevailed in the international borders for 13 years," pointing out that any escalation by Israel would threaten to drag the region into an unresolved conflict, which doubles the need to exert all possible international pressure on Israel. .

It is noteworthy that two Israeli reconnaissance planes had violated Lebanese airspace at dawn last Sunday over the area of ​​Moawad (Madi neighborhood in the southern suburbs of Beirut) and the first fell to the ground and exploded in the air causing damage in a building containing the Office of Media Relations of Hezbollah, and the damage was limited to material. The aircraft were found to have been booby-trapped.

Iraqi investigations
In Iraq, the government is preparing to lodge a complaint with the United Nations after it "conclusively" concluded that Israel was behind attacks on the Popular Mobilization Camps, said a parliamentary leader in those factions.

The Hashd, which was formed in 2014 and includes factions mostly Shiite and some pro-Iranian, has blamed Tel Aviv and Washington for a series of explosions and drones that targeted its headquarters in recent weeks, but Baghdad has refrained from direct charges so far.

However, the leader of the crowd, spokesman for the "conquest" parliamentary bloc MP Ahmed al-Asadi, said - in an interview with reporters in his office in central Baghdad - that the government investigations have found evidence of Israeli involvement.

Asadi said that "some government investigations have concluded that the perpetrator in some of these acts is Israel, absolutely and certainly."

"The government is working on the preparation of sufficient evidence and documents that authorize it to complain to the Security Council," he said.