The media office of Najib Mikati has said that the Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister will travel to New York, where the United Nations is based, cancelling a cabinet meeting.
The announcement came after earlier reports that Mikati had cancelled the trip to remain in the country amid intense Israeli strikes.
It added that Mikati decided to embark on the trip “in light of the recent developments.”
On Monday, Mikati called Israel’s aggression “a war of extermination” and a “destructive plan that aims to destroy Lebanese villages and towns.”
He urged “the United Nations and the General Assembly and influential countries … to deter the [Israeli] aggression.”
This came after an unrelenting day of Israeli attacks across Lebanon on Monday, September 23, 2004, saw at least 492 people killed, including 35 children.
At least 1,645 were wounded.
Residents fled southern villages in Lebanon seeking safety further north, but with Israeli attacks reaching deep into the country, including several in the capital Beirut, few places were safe from the barrage.
A number of officials decried Israel’s act.
Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister, Petra de Sutter said that she was “shocked” by the toll from Israel’s attacks on Lebanon on Monday.
“492 lives lost in Lebanon. +1600 injured. Tens of 1000s were ordered to flee their homes. In 1 day,” she wrote on X.
“This horrendous attack by Israel won’t lead to any solution for the region. Only diplomacy will bring citizens home safely. Only a ceasefire will end the suffering,” she added.
Israel Waging War On Hezbollah Because Of Failure In Gaza
Said Arikat, an adjunct Professor at the American University and a journalist with the Al Quds Daily newspaper, said that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu was waging war on Hezbollah because Israel has “failed in Gaza.”
“Netanyahu stated three goals: to decapitate Hamas, to free the hostages by force and to change the regime in Gaza. And he’s failed in all three. Now they’ve added another dimension to this war, resetting people back in their villages and hometowns and so on. But that is not likely to happen.
“Because… we will definitely see an escalation on the part of Hezbollah over the next few days. So we’re likely to see more Israelis leaving their homes and towns going deeper into deeper into Israel.”
Said Arikat
Arikat added that the US is not pushing Israel “sincerely enough or strong enough” for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“In this partnership, it’s the Americans who are the senior partner, they’re the ones that supply the weapons, the green light and protection at the UN,” Arikat told a news agency.
“But the US has failed to use that leverage,” he said
Moreover, he noted that there is no contradiction in US policy when officials call for de-escalation while also promising to defend Israel.
“The US position is very clearly on the side of Israel,” Arikat asserted.
“Israel could not have possibly waged such a strike [on Lebanon] without [an] American green light. After all, these are American aeroplanes and American weapons, including the F-35 fighter jets and the Hellfire missiles.
“We know that the US Secretary of defence, Mr Lloyd Austin, has been in contact with his Israeli counterpart almost on [a] daily basis. For the US to say they’re really concerned, of course they are concerned, they don’t want to see this go out of hand. But when they talk about de-escalation, keep in mind this means Israel can strike but the others cannot respond.”
Said Arikat
The analyst said that any talk of Israel reoccupying Lebanon “is foolhardy.”
“Because they have tried that before. Israel occupied Lebanon for a very long time and it was pushed out of it in 2000 largely by the resistance of the Hezbollah movement,” he noted.
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