First time for hardtalk. Welcome to hardtalk. Im stephen sackur. Israels intensifying Military Assault on lebanon has involved everything from Booby Trapped electronic devices to bunker busting bombs. As the Death Toll mounts, prime Minister Netanyahu says the target isnt the people of lebanon, its the armed militant group hezbollah, which continues to fire rockets into israel. So what, if anything, can the lebanese Government do to stave off a Gaza Style Catastrophe . My guest is lebanons economy minister, Amin Salam. Is his Government the very definition of powerless . Minister Amin Salam in beirut, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you, stephen. Pleasure being with you. Thank you forjoining me. War is happening to lebanon, war is happening to lebanon, minister, and yet war minister, and yet war is the last thing that is the last thing that lebanon wants. Lebanon wants. How does that make how does that make you feel right now . You feel right now . You said it, stephen. You said it, stephen
On lebanon as cross border attacks between israel and hezbollah intensify. These are live pictures from of the session in new york. The egyptian representative is speaking right now. It comes as the head of israel s army has told troops to prepare for a possible ground invasion of lebanon saying air attacks are in preparation for boots on the ground. Us presidentjoe biden has warned an all out war in the middle east is possible, but said there is still an opportunity to settle the conflict. Lebanon s health ministry says at least 72 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in israeli strikes on wednesday. Un secretary general antonio guterres said lebanon cannot become another gaza and called for an end to hostilities between israel and hezbollah. Hell is breaking loose in lebanon. As i told the general assembly yesterday, we should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink. Of course, the blue line is see intentions for aeons. Since the 6th of october, they
Minister amin salam in beirut, minister amin salam in beirut, welcome to hardtalk. Welcome to hardtalk. In gaza, through diplomatic thank you, stephen. Thank you, stephen. Pleasure being with you. Pleasure being with you. Thank you forjoining me. Thank you forjoining me. War is happening to lebanon, war is happening to lebanon, minister, and yet war minister, and yet war is the last thing that is the last thing that lebanon wants. Lebanon wants. How does that make how does that make you feel right now? you feel right now? you said it, stephen. You said it, stephen. It s the last thing we need. It s the last thing we need. It s the last thing we would it s the last thing we would have wanted to happen have wanted to happen and we were hoping and praying and we were hoping and praying and doing our best for the past and doing our best for the past year, since the war started year, since the war started in gaza, through diplomatic channels, through every channel possible, to avoid going i
North of beirut, where again, an israeli strike this morning has targeted, we are told, a senior Hezbollah Commander in the north of the country. We had seen pictures of members of the north Lebanese Red Cross searching through the rubble for survivors from the early morning attack. We saw this morning attack. We saw this morning in the early hourS People in Tel Aviv waking up to the news that hezbollah had targeted israels biggest most populous city with a Ballistic Missile. It is the first time that one of those really scaled up that one of those really scaled up weapons has been used in this conflict. It has clearly been used to send a message by hezbollah that even after several days of fierce israeli strikes, hezbollah wants to show it still has the capacity to strike back inside israel. Just want to show you this footage from the event earlier in the day. You can clearly see and hear the sound of the Air Raid sirens in this footage, which shows the missile just after it was inter
Youre watching bbc news. The un Security Council is holding an Emergency Session on lebanon as Cross Border attacks between Israel And Hezbollah intensify. These are live pictures from of the session in New York. It comes as the head of Israels Army has told troops to prepare for a possible Ground Invasion of lebanon saying Air Attacks are in preparation for boots on the ground. Us president Joe Biden has warned an All Out War in the Middle East is possible, but said there is still an opportunity to settle the conflict. Lebanons Health Ministry says at least 72 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in israeli strikes on wednesday. Un secretary general Antonio Guterres said lebanon cannot become another gaza and called for an end to hostilities between Israel And Hezbollah. Hell is breaking loose in lebanon. As i told the general assembly yesterday, we should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink. Of course, the Blue Line is see intentions for aeons. Sinc