The Israeli army’s Arabic-speaking spokesman, Avichay Adraee, criticized caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who claimed in an interview on Sunday morning with the pan-Arab al-Jazeera channel that Hezbollah “acts patriotically” on the southern front, stressing that the party’s “rationality” “reassures” him.
“While the Lebanese Prime Minister was declaring that the rationality with which Hezbollah acts reassures him, vandals from the terrorist party fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli civilians in the Electricity Authority, wounding several of them,” said Adraee on his X account. “This is an irrational terrorist attack that targeted civilians and endangers Lebanon. I don’t think Hezbollah’s irrational actions should reassure the head of government.”
During the interview, Mikati further asserted that “the government has drawn up an emergency plan for the next three months in the event of war in Lebanon.”
“We do not want war, and we will not try to start one,” he added, reiterating Lebanon’s commitment to “international legality and the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.”
Mikati also expressed the hope that “negotiations could lead to a ceasefire on the part of Israel in southern Lebanon.” What matters to me is that Lebanon remains safe,” he insisted. “We are looking for stability.”
When asked about the Riyadh Arab-Islamic summit held on Saturday to stress the importance of ending the war in Gaza, Mikati felt that the results were “better” than he had expected. In this context, he called on Arab countries, “especially those with relations with Israel, to press for an end to provocations in South Lebanon.”
