Speaker of the Lebanese parliament Nabih Berri (Photo by AP)

Beirut, September 23 (RHC)-- The speaker of the Lebanese parliament has cautioned against the Zionist regime’s destabilizing actions in West Asia, stating that its prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to drag Lebanon and the region into a wide-scale war.

“Netanyahu continues to turn Lebanon’s southern towns into uninhabited scorched territories that are difficult to live in by destroying their green spaces suitable for agriculture with incendiary phosphorous bombs. The Israeli army is destroying homes and leveling them to the ground, killing civilians, including women, children, elderly people, paramedics, and health workers,” Nabih Berri stated on Sunday.

He said that Netanyahu is trying to drag Lebanon and the region into a full-blown war, adding that Lebanon does not want a war, and will not get dragged into it.

“We will not let this happen, and will not fall into the Israeli trap. Rather, we will resist his plan, adhere to the rules of engagement, and demand the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). The international community has no choice but to pressure Israel into stopping violation of the Lebanese airspace,” Berri said.

“Nevertheless, we reserve the right to defend ourselves with all our strength and capabilities,” Berri asserted. “We will spare no effort to secure the elements of deterrence for our compatriots in southern Lebanon to prevent Israel from displacing them.”

The speaker of the Lebanese parliament finally called upon Washington to exert sufficient pressure on Netanyahu to stop his aggression against Lebanon.

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have incrementally escalated since the occupying regime launched a ruinous war against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip in October last year, which has killed at least 41,431 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

The two sides have on a near-daily basis exchanged heavy fire resulting in the loss of more than 600 lives on the Lebanese side.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on September 19 that the deadly wireless device explosions by Israel amounted to a declaration of war on Lebanon, vowing a harsh response to the regime.