Lebanon's PM Mikati condemns Israeli assaults on South Lebanon in recent speech

On Wednesday, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati underscored that "Lebanon's enduring choice has been and continues to be peace, rooted in principles of rights, justice, and international law, notably UN Resolution 1701."

In his remarks at an event in Beirut, PM Mikati condemned the Israeli attacks on the south, the deliberate killing of its people, the destruction of towns, and the burning of crops, expressing that the international community must put an end to "their persistence and crimes."

He stated that it is necessary to question international stakeholders regarding the initiatives taken to restrain the [Israeli] enemy, adding: "The current events in southern Lebanon, while seen as echoing the tragedies in Gaza, are fundamentally a result of [...] Israeli assaults on national sovereignty and its ongoing and persistent violations of UN Resolution 1701."

He stressed that since the onset of the Gaza war, "I initiated public appeals to maintain calm and to restrain tensions along the southern borders. I have issued warnings against the expansion of destructive warfare from Gaza to southern Lebanon and further to the region."

PM Mikati continued: "However, we are a people who do not accept and will not accept attacks on our sovereignty, national dignity, territorial integrity, and civilians."

He continued, "What happened at Al-Shifa Hospital is a crime and a violation of all conventions and cannot pass unnoticed. As a country hosting hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees since 1948, we remind the international community of its humanitarian and moral responsibility towards Palestinian refugees."

He considered, "The essence of peace is for the Palestinian people to live on their land under a free and independent state, and any attempt to bypass this will lead to further crises in the Middle East and the world."