Lebanon has the right to defend its land amid systematic Israeli escalation, Mikati tells army officials
BEIRUT: Lebanon is determined to defend its territory and sovereignty, interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Friday.
“We will not hesitate to do so, despite the sacrifices,” he said.
Mikati described regional developments as “worrying,” warning of increasing levels of danger.
He said that “nothing indicates that Israeli arrogance will stop.”
Mikati met with senior officials of the Lebanese army command and warned that “regional developments are worrying.”
He stressed that the army “remains the firm guarantee of the unity of Lebanon, its territory, its people and its institutions, making it a national obligation for all to unite around the institution of the army.”
Mikati said that in response to the continued and serious Israeli escalation, “we affirm our right to defend our land, our sovereignty and our dignity using all available means.”
He said he had informed “friendly and brotherly countries that we are supporters of peace, not war.
“We seek permanent stability through Israel's commitment to implement UN Resolution 1701 in all its provisions. No Israeli aggression will prevent us from doing so.”
Mikati stressed the importance of deploying the army in cooperation with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon to prevent violations of “our internationally recognized borders. This is essential to ensure stability and security for the people in the south.”
He added: “Our right to use the resources in our waters is absolute and non-negotiable.”
Mikati also met with ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China and Russia) and representatives of the non-permanent member states present in Lebanon (Algeria, Japan, Switzerland and South Korea).
The meeting took place against the backdrop of escalating clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, which culminated on Tuesday with the assassination of Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr in the heart of Beirut's southern suburbs.
Mikati's press office said the assembled ambassadors reaffirmed “Lebanon's commitment to the implementation of United Nations resolutions, particularly resolution 1701, as a top priority in the region.”
Lebanon has also filed a complaint with the United Nations Security Council against Israel for its aggression in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
He said Israel's dangerous escalation had hit a densely populated residential area, violating international law and the United Nations Charter.
In the southern town of Shamaa, a funeral procession 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 Israeli air strike on their home on Thursday evening.
The death toll of Syrian civilians killed in clashes in the south since October 8 has risen to 18.
The airstrike coincided with a funeral procession organized by Hezbollah for Shukr in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
At Shukr's funeral on Thursday evening, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah vowed to respond to his assassination.
He said that Israel “should expect revenge from the honorable” and that “we have entered a new phase on all fronts of support (for Hamas in the Gaza Strip).”
He said that Israel “has crossed red lines and has no idea what kind of aggression it has committed.”
On Friday, the Israeli military launched air strikes and targeted border towns with artillery fire, including Rab El-Thalathine, Dhayra and Blida, as well as the suburbs of Naqoura and Tayr Harfa.
Hezbollah announced a series of targets that fell within its rules of engagement.
It targeted with artillery fire the deployment of Israeli soldiers at the Dhayra site, the Al-Sammaqa site in the occupied Lebanese hills of Kfarchouba and the Bayad Blida site.
Following the Israeli attack on Shamaa, the party fired dozens of Katyusha rockets at the settlement of Matzuva.
