Lebanon has right to defend its land amid Israeli surge, Mikati tells military officers
BEIRUT: Lebanon is determined to defend its land and sovereignty, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Friday.
“We will not hesitate to do it, no matter the sacrifice,” he said.
Mikati described the development of the region as “worrisome”, indicating an increase in danger.
He said that “there is nothing to say that Israeli pride will stop.”
Mikati met with senior officers of the Lebanese army command and warned that “developments in the region are worrying.”
He stressed that the army “remains a strong guarantee for the unity of Lebanon, its territory, its people and its place, making it a national duty for everyone to unite around the institutions “.
Mikati said that in response to the continued and severe Israeli escalation, “we are asserting our right to defend our land, sovereignty and dignity by all available means.”
He said that he informed the “friendly and fraternal countries that we are advocates of peace and not war.”
“We seek lasting stability through Israel's commitment to implement UN resolution 1701 in all its provisions. No amount of Israeli violence will stop us from that.”
Mikati emphasized the importance of deploying the army in cooperation with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon to prevent violations of the “borders recognized by the country. This is very necessary for stability and security for the people of the south”.
He added: “Our right to use our water resources is absolute and not open to negotiation.”
Mikati also met with the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (the United States, France, England, China, and Russia) and the representatives of non-permanent member states in Lebanon (Algeria, Japan , Switzerland, and South Korea).
The meeting came against the backdrop of an escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which reached its climax on Tuesday with the killing of Hezbollah chief Fuad Shukr in the heart of southern Beirut.
Mikati's press office announced that the assembled ambassadors reaffirmed “Lebanon's commitment to the implementation of UN resolutions, especially Resolution 1701, as a top priority in the area”.
Lebanon has also lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council against Israel for its violence in southern Beirut.
It said Israel's escalation of violence has affected a populated area in violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.
In the southern town of Shamaa, a funeral was held for a Syrian mother and her three children — Fatima Al-Raja Al-Hajj and her sons Suleiman, Mohammed and Ahmed Al-Hajj — who were killed in an airstrike. Israel among them. home on Thursday night.
The number of Syrian civilians killed in the conflict in the south since October 8 has risen to 18.
The Hezbollah airstrikes coincided with Shukr's funeral in south Beirut.
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah vowed Thursday evening during Shukr's funeral to avenge his killing.
He said that Israel “should expect revenge from the dignitaries” and that “we have entered a new phase in terms of all support (for Hamas in the Gaza Strip).”
He said that “Israel has crossed a red line and does not know what kind of violence it has committed”.
The Israeli army launched airstrikes on Friday and targeted border towns with gunfire, including Rab El-Thalathine, Dhayra, and Blida, as well as the border towns of Naqoura and Tayr Harfa.
Hezbollah has announced a set of goals that are part of the rules of engagement.
It targeted Israeli military installations in Dhayra site, Al-Sammaqa site in the occupied Lebanese Kfarchouba hills and Bayad Blida site with artillery.
The party fired dozens of Katyusha rockets at Matzuva village after the Israeli attack on Shamaa.
