Beirut – Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati confirmed on Wednesday that there are “worrying opportunities for diplomacy that is moving to prevent war and stop the Israeli aggression” on his country, pointing to intensive foreign tours in parallel with the “danger of the situation” for the security of the Middle East.
Mikati’s remarks came at the beginning of a ministerial session held at the government headquarters to discuss the government’s emergency plan to confront any possible Israeli attack, within the framework of the escalation between Tel Aviv and the Lebanese factions movement, which vowed to respond to the assassination of its leader, Fouad Shukr, on July 30.
According to a statement published by the Lebanese Prime Minister’s Office on its official website, Mikati stressed his government’s adherence to “Lebanon’s right to liberate its land and preserve its sovereignty in light of the escalating war, increasing tension, and the Israeli enemy’s persistence in committing massacres.”
He added: “After more than 10 months of war on Lebanon and Gaza, we are still paying a heavy price in the lives of our youth, our people, our towns and our economy.”
Mikati continued: “We are determined to stop the war, stressing Lebanon’s clear position to adhere literally to the contents of Resolution 1701 and implement all of its provisions and clauses by everyone, because it is the gateway to any solution.”
On August 11, 2006, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1701, calling for a complete cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel.
Mikati warned of the seriousness of the situation, saying: “We are facing anxious opportunities for diplomacy that is moving to prevent war and stop the Israeli aggression,” noting that “foreign tours with foreign presidents and leaders and Arab brothers have intensified due to the seriousness of the Lebanese and regional situation and its danger to the security of the region.”
He said: “What concerns us in preventing war and a ceasefire is stopping the Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza, and the destruction, displacement and killing they leave behind, in full view of the entire world.”
He also stressed that “Israeli intransigence threatens efforts to stop the war and does not give weight to the initiatives of good mediators.”
With the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the United States, the Palestinian factions in Gaza and Israel have been conducting indirect, faltering negotiations for months to reach an agreement to exchange prisoners and stop the war on Gaza.
But the mediation has repeatedly clashed with Israeli intransigence and its rejection of any agreement that guarantees a permanent cessation of the war on Gaza, which is one of the basic conditions of the Palestinian factions movement to reach an agreement.
Mikati’s remarks come two days before the resumption of indirect negotiations between the Palestinian factions and Israel, which was called for by the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and US President Joe Biden, in a tripartite statement issued a few days ago.
Recently, the Palestinian factions demanded that the three truce mediators implement a plan for the offer presented by Biden and proposed by Israel at the end of last May, instead of new negotiations, while Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant held Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu’s government responsible for obstructing the potential agreement.
Since October 8, 2023, Lebanese and Palestinian factions in Lebanon have been exchanging daily shelling with the Israeli army across the “Blue Line” separating them, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries, most of them on the Lebanese side.
The factions are linking the cessation of the bombing to Israel ending its war on the Gaza Strip with American support since October 7, which has left nearly 132,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.
This comes as Israel has been anticipating for days retaliatory responses from Iran, Lebanese factions and Palestinian factions over the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, and leader Fouad Shukr in Beirut the day before.
Anatolia
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2024-08-15 13:42:51
