Lebanon has the right to defend its country amid systematic Israeli escalation, Mikati tells army officers
BEIRUT: Lebanon is determined to defend its country and its sovereignty, Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Friday.
“We will not hesitate to do it, regardless of the sacrifices,” he said.
Mikati described the regional developments as “disturbing”, signaling heightened levels of risk.
He said that “there is no indication that Israeli arrogance will end.”
Mikati met with senior officers of the Lebanese army command and warned that “regional developments are worrying.”
He emphasized that the army “remains the firm guarantee of Lebanon's unity, its territory, people and facilities, making it a national obligation for all to unite around the institution of the army.”
Mikati said that in response to the ongoing and serious Israeli escalation, “we reaffirm our right to defend our country, our sovereignty and dignity by all available means.”
He stated that he had informed “friendly and fraternal countries that we are advocates 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 deter us from that.”
Mikati stressed the importance of deploying the army in cooperation with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon to prevent violations of “our internationally recognized borders. This is important to ensure stability and security for the people of the south.”
He added: “Our right to exploit the resources of our waters is absolute and not open to negotiation.”
Mikati also met with the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China, and Russia) and the representatives of the non-permanent member states present in Lebanon (Algeria, Japan, Switzerland, and South Korea).
The meeting came against the backdrop of escalating confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah, which peaked on Tuesday with the assassination of senior Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr in the heart of the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Mikati's media office stated that the assembled ambassadors reaffirmed Lebanon's “commitment to implement UN resolutions, especially Resolution 1701, as a top priority in the region.”
Lebanon has also filed a complaint with the UN Security Council against Israel for its aggression against the southern suburb of Beirut.
It said Israel's dangerous escalation affected a densely populated residential area in violation of international law and the UN Charter.
In the southern city 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 night.
The death toll of Syrian civilians killed in the confrontations in the south since October 8 has risen to 18.
The airstrike coincided with Hezbollah holding the funeral procession for Shukr in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah vowed Thursday night during Shukr's funeral to respond to his murder.
He said Israel “should expect the revenge of the honorable” and that “we have entered a new phase on all support fronts (for Hamas in the Gaza Strip).”
He said Israel “has crossed red lines and has no idea what kind of aggression it has committed.”
The Israeli army launched airstrikes on Friday, targeting border towns with artillery fire, including Rab El-Thalathine, Dhayra and Blida, as well as the outskirts of Naqoura and Tayr Harfa.
Hezbollah announced a series of targets that were within the rules of engagement.
It targeted the deployment of Israeli soldiers in Dhayra site, Al-Sammaqa site in the occupied Lebanese Kfarchouba hills and Bayad Blida site with artillery shells.
The party fired dozens of Katyusha rockets at the Matzuva settlement in the wake of the Israeli attack on Shamaa.
