Mikati urges instant ceasefire, deployment of 8,000 troops in south
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday callied for an immediate cease-fire, the full implementation of the U.N. resolution that ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war and the deployment of 8,000 Lebanese troops to a buffer zone along the border with Israel.
Mikati spoke at a conference in Paris in support of Lebanon.
“The devastating impact of this war on our nation cannot be overstated, and it has left a trail of destruction and misery in its wake. The Israeli aggression has not only caused immense human suffering and loss of lives, but also inflicted severe damage to the country’s infrastructure, economy and social fabric," Mikati added.
"It would've been possible to avoid the loss of Lebanese civilian lives and the destruction had Israel agreed to the Sep. 25 joint statement and we call for an instant ceasefire and the deployment of 8,000 Lebanese troops south of Litani," Mikati said.
"What Lebanon urgently needs today is an instant ceasefire and we are counting on you to exert all the necessary pressure to achieve a ceasefire," he added.
The Lebanese Army has largely kept to the sidelines in the latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. It says Israeli forces have targeted its soldiers on eight occasions, killing and wounding several. Israel apologized for a deadly strike on Sunday.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war, called for Hezbollah and Israeli forces to withdraw from areas south of Lebanon’s Litani River and for the area to be controlled by the Lebanese Army and U.N. peacekeepers.
Israel says the resolution was never implemented and that Hezbollah built up military infrastructure all the way to the border. Lebanon has accused Israel of ignoring other provisions, including by violating its airspace.
The Lebanese Army has around 80,000 forces, with around 5,000 deployed in the south.
Representing the Lebanese Army at the Paris conference, Brig. Gen. Youssef Haddad said that Lebanon is working on recruiting 1,500 additional soldiers to help implement the U.N. resolution, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Hezbollah boasts tens of thousands of fighters. Lebanon’s military is not strong enough to impose its will on the militant group or to resist Israel’s ground invasion.
Source: Associated Press, Naharnet
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