Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday urged the United Nations to adopt a resolution calling for an “immediate” ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
“We have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to submit a request to the Security Council, calling on it to take a decision for a complete and immediate ceasefire with the implementation of Resolution 1701,” the prime minister said after a cabinet meeting .
He added that “a diplomatic solution is on the table, and Hezbollah is a partner in the government and agrees to implement 1701.”
The resolution bans the presence of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in the border area with Israel.
The Israeli army must therefore withdraw behind the Blue Line – the Lebanese-Israeli border. The resolution gives exclusive authority to the Lebanese army and the troops of the United Nations Interim Forces in Southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Lebanon south of the Litani River.
He stressed that a ceasefire is necessary and that the Lebanese army must prove its role in increasing security at the southern border.
Mikati added that “what is happening is completely unacceptable.”
“Lebanon is a victim of Israeli arrogance that remains undeterred and violates our sovereignty in front of the world, reinforced by the suspicious silence about the massacres,” he said.
The interim prime minister also denounced the Israeli shelling of a UNIFIL base.
According to the Lebanese news agency NNA, two more peacekeepers were injured in Israeli shelling near an observation post at the UNIFIL headquarters in Naquora in southern Lebanon.