BEIRUT: Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, announced Tuesday that “Lebanon will respond to Israeli accusations in a detailed letter to the (UN) Security Council.”
Israel accused Hezbollah last Saturday of shelling a football field in the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights, which resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries.
Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the attack.
Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib clarified Tuesday that Lebanon “sent a response to the Israeli delegate’s statement in Brussels following his attack on Lebanon and will have another response to Israel’s complaint against Lebanon at the United Nations.”
Mikati reiterated Lebanon’s condemnation of “all forms of violence, especially targeting civilians,” and called for “an end to Israeli aggression on southern Lebanon and the full implementation of Resolution 1701.”
He expressed astonishment at how “the Israeli enemy, which relentlessly wages war on Palestinians through killing, destruction, and displacement, claims to lament the loss of Arab victims in an Arab region occupied by Israel and makes threats, while the full circumstances of what happened are still unknown.”
Mikati emphasized that “the threat of a comprehensive war will not deter the Lebanese from holding on to their right to their land and defending it by all means.”
He stated that this position “has been communicated to all of Lebanon’s friends around the world and to the European Union.”
Meanwhile, several airlines have suspended flights to Lebanon, while several concerts in Beirut and other regions were canceled. Countries continued to warn their citizens against traveling to Lebanon.
The chairman of Middle East Airlines, Mohamad El-Hout, confirmed that Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport “has not received any threats or information from any source about an Israeli strike on the airport.”
El-Hout said “delaying five or six flights from night to dawn or morning was due to technical reasons related to distributing insurance risks between Lebanon and abroad.”
He added: “All Arab airlines are continuing their flights to Beirut during the day, and most planes are operating normally.”
UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert discussed “ongoing contacts to extend the mandate of UNIFIL” with Mikati.
The UN official called for “calm on all fronts” and urged all parties to adhere to the implementation of Resolution 1701.
Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, in a call with his Lebanese counterpart Bou Habib, expressed “Jordan’s solidarity with Lebanon in this difficult time.”
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged British citizens in Lebanon to “leave immediately” in a recent statement. Meanwhile, the Nepalese Foreign Ministry advised its citizens to “exercise caution and adhere to necessary precautionary measures.”
Nabih Berri, the speaker of Parliament, reiterated on Tuesday “Lebanon’s commitment to Resolution 1701,” accusing Israel of “setting a record for violating this resolution, with more than 33,000 violations.”
Berri emphasized that the “key to stability and preventing the outbreak of a conflict that no one will be safe from is by exerting political pressure to stop Israel’s ongoing aggression against Gaza and Lebanon for over nine months.”
Israeli military operations on the ground continued to attack Hezbollah members, utilizing drones to track them on roads and attacking homes. The Israeli military claimed that “it attacked 10 Hezbollah targets in seven areas in southern Lebanon and targeted military installations and missile launch pads belonging to Hezbollah.”
A senior source in Hezbollah informed Al Jazeera that the party “does not expect a ground invasion, even a limited one, of Lebanon. However, we are in a state of full readiness and a ground invasion of Lebanon would be an incentive for us to set foot in the Galilee.”
The source emphasized that Hezbollah “will definitely respond to any Israeli aggression, and we are capable of striking military installations in Haifa, the Golan Heights, and Ramat David.”
