Mikati condemned Israeli strikes on Gaza's Tabieen school at the start of the Cabinet meeting

The Cabinet, convened and chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, began on Wednesday morning at the Grand Serail, shortly after the scheduled time, according to our correspondent Hoda Chedid and the news site Lebanon Debate.

The meeting was primarily focused on a briefing by the caretaker Environment Minister, Nasser Yassine, who heads the emergency cell, about the measures and provisions included in the national emergency plan amid heightened regional tensions.

“As the war escalates, tensions rise, and the Israeli enemy continues to commit massacres, we assert, as a government, our commitment to Lebanon’s right to liberate its land and preserve its sovereignty,” Najib Mikati said at the start of the meeting. He also “strongly condemned the massacre committed by Israel against innocent people and the deaths of more than a hundred martyrs” in the attack on a school in Gaza City on Saturday. “We call on the global community to act to end this organized criminal genocide,” added the Lebanese Prime Minister.

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“More than ten months after the war against Lebanon and Gaza, we are still paying a heavy toll in human lives, with our youth, families, cities, and economy, while emphasizing the need to end the war and affirming Lebanon's clear position on the literal adherence to the content of Security Council Resolution 1701 [which ended the 2006 war between Lebanon and Israel] and on the implementation of all its provisions by all parties, as it is the key to any solution,” Mikati said.

He noted that Lebanon is awaiting the possible conclusion of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, 11 months into the war, to lead to a halt in hostilities at the border between southern Lebanon and northern Israel, where the two have been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire since Oct. 8, 2023.

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Lebanon and the Middle East remain on edge regarding the possibility of a response from Iran and Hezbollah against Israel following the assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior military figure of the Lebanese party, Fouad Shukur, in Beirut. Fears of a broader conflict continue to loom.

Meanwhile, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein is expected in Beirut on Wednesday for a surprise visit, during which he will meet with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.