Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, has warned that his country’s existence is being threatened.
Speaking at the Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh, Mikati said that Lebanon is going through an “unprecedented historical and existential crisis that threatens its present and future.”
Mikati also demanded that countries stop “interfering in its internal affairs by supporting this or that group, but rather support Lebanon as a state and entity.”
He stated that Israel’s war has caused “unprecedented losses” with more than 3,000 having been killed, including 775 women and children.
He said that the war also had caused $8.5bn in losses, including $3.4bn caused by the destruction or damage of about 100,000 housing units in different parts of the country. “No state can take the burden of this huge destruction,” Mikati said, adding that Beirut is about to set up a fund that will be funded by friendly states for the reconstruction process.
According to a news agency report, He said that the fund will be under international supervision and subject to international auditing.
Mikati also met with a number of Arab leaders, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II and the Crown Prince of Kuwait, at the Arab-Islamic Summit.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 3,243 people and injured 14,134 since 7 October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry has said, adding that 54 Lebanese people had been killed and 56 others injured on Sunday alone.
The Israeli military unleashed its assault on Lebanon in October, claiming its aim was to return tens of thousands of people evacuated from homes in northern Israel due to the cross-border hostilities.
Meanwhile, Israel’s newly appointed Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar said that “certain progress” had been made on ceasefire talks in Lebanon, where Israel has been engaged in fighting Hezbollah for over 13 months.
“We will be ready to be there if we know, first of all, that Hezbollah is not on our border, is north of the Litani River, and that Hezbollah will not be able to arm with new weapons systems.”
Gideon Saar
He added that diplomatic efforts were taking place through US mediation, but that the lack of enforcement mechanism in any future deal remained a stumbling block.
Despite the reported progress on a ceasefire deal, Hezbollah said that it had not seen any actual proposal come across its desk, nor does it expect to any time soon.
Mohammad Afif, the Head of Hezbollah’s media office, said at a press conference that there is great movement between Washington and Moscow and Tehran and a number of capitals.
“I believe that we are still in the phase of testing the waters and presenting initial ideas and proactive discussions, but so far there is nothing actual yet.”
Mohammad Afif
Any ceasefire in Lebanon would have to be approved by Hezbollah, and presumably its patron, Iran.
Iran Says ‘World Waiting’ For Trump Administration To Stop Wars In Lebanon And Gaza
Also at the Arab-Islamic summit, Iran’s first Vice President, Mohammad Reza Aref, said “the world is waiting” for Donald Trump’s incoming US government to “immediately” end Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
The American government is the main supporter of the actions of the Zionist regime (Israel), and the world is waiting for the promise of the new government of this country to immediately stop the war against the innocent people of Gaza and Lebanon.
He also condemned Israel’s recent assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders .
“The operations that are conceptualised with the deceptive phrasing of ‘targeted killing’, and during which Palestinian elites and leaders of other countries in the region are killed one by one or en masse, are nothing but lawlessness and organised terrorism.”
Mohammad Reza Aref
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