Former Prime Minister Najib Mikati presiding over a government session on March 26, 2023, at the Grand Serail. (Credit: Mikati's press office)
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati stated on Thursday that the text of the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah on Nov. 27 was "sent the same day by the General Secretariat of the Parliament to the General Secretariat of Parliament," refuting claims to the contrary by Lebanese MPs the previous day during debates on the vote of confidence in Nawaf Salam's government.
Several lawmakers, including dissenter Firas Hamdan, had criticized Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri for not making the full text of the agreement public, suspecting there might be another version or hidden annex.
The former Mikati government, handling current affairs during a presidential vacancy, had approved the cease-fire agreement to end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. The party had opened a "support front" in southern Lebanon on Oct. 8, 2023, for Gaza. The clashes between the two adversaries escalated into an almost full-scale war starting in September 2024 in Lebanon.
In a statement relayed by the National News Agency (NNA), Mikati recalled that his "ministerial team had reviewed and subsequently approved the content of the agreement," emphasizing that U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 served as the basis for the cease-fire agreement. The text also specified that these arrangements were announced in a joint declaration by the U.S. and France.
After the vote of confidence granted to the new government by a large majority of MPs, Mikati asserted that "the fundamental challenge facing the government is the rapid implementation of the promises of Nawaf Salam's ministerial declaration."
Adopted in 2006 following a previous war between Israel and Hezbollah, Resolution 1701 explicitly grants the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese Army the authority to operate and maintain peace along the Blue Line, which delineates the border between the two countries. It also stipulates that Hezbollah must be kept away from the border, in exchange for Israel's respect for Lebanese sovereignty.