Belgium’s federal government is today sending soldiers to Cyprus, where they will be on standby to repatriate nationals from Lebanon to Belgium if an operation is launched. Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder (Francophone socialist/PS) confirmed the news to the Belgian press agency Belga earlier today. The federal government is also sending out the B-FAST team to transfer medicines and other resources to Lebanon.
B-FAST is the government’s humanitarian aid team that provides disaster assistance at countries’ request. In principle in does not operate in theatres where a conflict is in progress.
Israel's incursion into southern Lebanon, where the Shi’ite movement Hezbollah holds sway, is threatening a further escalation in the Middle East. The federal government and defence minister Dedonder are worried. Ms Dedonder says she has been closely following the situation in the region for more than a year. ‘Throughout this time, I have been very concerned about a possible escalation of the conflict in the region’.
No military operation is being launched just yet. ‘Today, there are still commercial flights from Lebanon,’ Ms Dedonder continued. ‘We are waiting for the green light from the foreign minister to launch a military operation. We are anticipating gaining time and, above all, not to losing time.’