Lebanon: Prime Minister Mikati calls for ceasefire with Israel

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati today called for a ceasefire with Israel after discussions with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who is the first high-ranking Western diplomat to visit Beirut since the escalation of Israeli attacks against Lebanon.

“The key to the solution lies in ending the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and returning to the call made by the U.S. and France, supported by the EU, Arab, and foreign countries, in favor of a ceasefire,” Mikati stated, according to a statement from his office.

“The priority is the implementation of UN Resolution 1701,” which ended the 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese movement Hezbollah, he added.

Barrot arrived in Beirut last Sunday night, where for the first time since 2006, Israel struck a target in the heart of the Lebanese capital, killing three members of an armed Palestinian group.

So far, Israeli strikes have been concentrated in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, as well as in southern and eastern Lebanon.

The French minister delivered emergency medical aid to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health yesterday before holding a working meeting regarding the situation of the 23,000 French citizens living in Lebanon.

Today, Barrot met with Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai and is expected to hold talks with Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, and Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker and Hezbollah ally.

Last week, Washington and Paris, alongside Arab, Western, and European countries, called for an “immediate 21-day ceasefire” between Israel and Hezbollah to “give diplomacy a chance.”

Israel ignored the initiative and intensified its strikes against Lebanon. On Friday, it killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

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