Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has confirmed Lebanon’s determination to comply with Resolution 1701, stressing that the country must not be drawn into a war with Israel in the face of the escalation in Gaza. “I had a busy week of contacts with several heads of state and world leaders, and there was a consensus that we should seek, with all parties concerned, to keep Lebanon away from war.”
In an interview with Al Jadeed channel on Friday, Mikati condemned the Israeli attack on teams of journalists in Alma-Sha’ab, in the south of the country, offering his condolences to the family of the killed journalist Issam Abdallah and wishing a speedy recovery to the six injured journalists.
In response to a question about his contacts with Hezbollah regarding the tensions in the South, Najib Mikati clarified that “the main objective is to maintain stability in Lebanon,” but that he had received no guarantees from anyone as to how the situation would evolve, as circumstances are changeable. “Israel must stop provoking Hezbollah, and Lebanon does not want to go to war, as it is no secret that our country is going through difficult circumstances,” he noted.
The Prime Minister in charge of dispatching current affairs also described what is happening in Gaza as a “spiral of violence,” indicating that the priority is to impose a ceasefire in the region. “There are attempts for the Security Council to meet to adopt a resolution ending the war in Gaza, and the UN must take this decision because any delay could lead us into serious problems.”
In response to a question about the absence of gas in block number 9, Mikati revealed that two days ago, a delegation from the Total company visited him and informed him that there were negative indications regarding the extraction of gas in the mentioned block, but that the final decision will be taken by the companies concerned in the coming days.
