Outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati presiding over a Cabinet meeting in Beirut, Oct. 11, 2024. (Credit: X/@grandserail)
Lebanon's outgoing Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, called on the U.N. on Friday to adopt a resolution for an “immediate cease-fire” in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, more than a year after the start of exchanges of strikes along the border, which have degenerated into a full-scale offensive since Sept. 23.
Speaking from the Grand Serail at the end of a Cabinet meeting, he said that the United States supported this request, “following a call from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who expressed a willingness to end hostilities.”
Following a cabinet meeting, Mikati assured the audience that his government was “committed to the full implementation of Resolution 1701,” which stipulates a cessation of hostilities on both sides of the border, and that only U.N. peacekeeping forces and the Lebanese Army should be deployed in southern Lebanon. Beirut is “determined to defend its rights and its land,” he said, announcing that the government is committed to “strengthening the army's presence in the south of the country.”
“Hezbollah, which is part of the government, approved these decisions,” he said, stressing that the search for a diplomatic solution to the conflict, based on the application of 1701, “remains on the table.”
With regard to the arrival of humanitarian aid in Lebanon, the outgoing Prime Minister announced the opening of an air bridge between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon on Saturday, indicating that while “no financial aid” had yet been received from the international community, distributions of medicines had already begun in reception centers for displaced persons.
He also assured that traffic was continuing normally at Rafic Hariri International Airport and at the borders.
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