Najib Mikati: We are ready to defend our land by all means amid worrying developments in the region

Lebanon – Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati confirmed on Friday that “regional developments are worrying and portend an increase in the level of danger and its expansion.”

“Lebanon is suffering from the security conditions, from its south to its Bekaa, up to the (bombing) of the southern suburb of the capital, as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression on Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, in addition to the economic and social distress in general. In addition to all of that, there are worrying regional developments that warn of an increase in the level of danger and its expansion from one region to another,” he continued during a speech on the occasion of Army Day from the command headquarters in Yarzeh.

Mikati stressed that “the bet is on the army, because it is the sure guarantee for the unity of Lebanon, its land, people and institutions, which makes rallying around your institution a comprehensive national duty before which all bets and interests, whether political or personal, fall, because the testimonies you have presented on the altar of the nation have never been except for the sake of its elevation, sovereignty and safety.”

For his part, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, said on Friday that he had discussed with the concerned parties and countries including Lebanon, Egypt and Qatar ways to prevent the expansion of the conflict in the region and to take urgent measures to prevent the situation from deteriorating. Wennesland added that during his discussions he stressed “the urgent need to address the growing risk of dangerous escalation, which poses a major threat to regional stability.”

The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced, on Thursday evening, that it had filed a complaint with the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary-General regarding “Israel’s recent aggression on the southern suburbs of Beirut.”

Tensions have escalated on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon amid fears of an escalation of the war, especially after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh last Wednesday while he was in Iran, and the assassination of the leader Fouad Shukr in a bombing of the southern suburbs of Beirut last Wednesday.

Agencies