Lebanon says diplomatic communications intensified to reach cease-fire

By Anadolu staff

BEIRUT (AA) – Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday diplomatic communications have intensified ahead of a UN Security Council session on Thursday to reach a temporary cease-fire with Israel.

“There are ongoing contacts between the US and France, which called the Security Council session, to revive efforts for a temporary cease-fire declaration to pave the way for political solutions,” Mikati said in a statement released by his office.

Last month, the US, EU, and nine other nations urged Israel and Lebanon to agree to a 21-day cease-fire, a proposal rejected by Tel Aviv.

“We have reiterated during the diplomatic contacts that we are ready to implement UN Resolution 1701 provided that Israel abides by all its provisions," Mikati said.

Adopted on Aug. 11, 2006, the resolution calls for a complete cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel and the establishment of a demilitarized zone between the Blue Line (the boundary between Lebanon and Israel) and the Litani River, allowing only the Lebanese army and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to possess weapons and military equipment in the area.

“Violence, carnage, and destruction will not lead to a solution,” the Lebanese premier said. “Israel must be forced to cease its destructive aggression."

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,323 people, injuring over 3,700 others, and displacing more than 1.2 million people.

The aerial campaign was an escalation in yearlong cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Tel Aviv’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip that has killed over 42,000 people, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Middle East region was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, Tel Aviv expanded the conflict by launching on Oct. 1 a ground invasion into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara