Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Tuesday he was intervening in stalled efforts to form a new government, warning the country faced "catastrophe" if his initiative failed. More than six months since the parliamentary elections, efforts to form the national unity cabinet led by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri are still facing hurdles with rival groups vying for cabinet posts. Aoun said the challenges in the government formation could not be resolved "the traditional way" between the PM-designate and the other parties, and it was his duty to get involved. "The risks are greater than we can bear," he said, in an apparent reference to difficulties facing the heavily indebted Lebanese economy. "We are launching an initiative ... and it has to succeed, because if it doesnt ... there is a catastrophe, we want to say it with all frankness, and this is the reason for my intervention," Aoun said in a joint press conference with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Van der Bellen, who is on a visit to Beirut. Aoun held separate meetings with Speaker Nabih Berri and Hariri on Monday. Agreement over the make-up of the new cabinet has met a series of obstacles as Hariri has sought to forge a deal parcelling out 30 cabinet posts among rival groups according to a sectarian political system. The final hurdle has been over the representation of Hezbollah-backed independent Sunni MPs. Hariri has ruled out giving them one of his seats. During the press conference, Aoun also said Israels operation to destroy what it called Hezbollah attack tunnels across the border wont endanger the calm along the frontier. Lebanon takes the tunnels issue "seriously" and is prepared to "take measures to remove causes of disagreement" after a full report on the situation,” he said. Aoun said the United States has informed Lebanon that Israel has "no aggressive intentions," adding that his country too has "no aggressive intentions." Israel launched an operation to destroy a series of tunnels last week, showing one to UN peacekeepers and calling it a violation of the ceasefire that ended the 2006 war with Hezbollah.