Lebanon aims to ensure Hezbollah response to Israeli attack does not cause wider war

DUBAI (Reuters) - Lebanon is working to ensure any response to the Israeli killing of a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut does not trigger total war in the Middle East, its Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Tuesday.

Tensions in the region have spiralled in the last week following the killing in Tehran of Palestinian militant group Hamas' leader, and an Israeli strike on Beirut's suburbs that killed the senior commander Fuad Shukr.

Hezbollah said last week that the Iran-backed group will respond in a studied manner.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct.7 and ignited a war in Gaza.

(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Ahmed Elimam; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)