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Aug. 2 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister Nayib Mikati on Friday claimed the country’s right to “defend its land, sovereignty and dignity by all means” and accused Israel of having “unbounded arrogance.”
In a speech to Lebanese Army Chief Joseph Aoun and military personnel, Mikati said the country “will continue to face Israeli attacks that have left hundreds of martyrs and wounded (…) as well as displaced families who have lost their homes and seen their property burned.”
The remarks come as fears of a Middle East war between Israel and Iran and groups it supports in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen have been revived following Israeli attacks in Tehran and Beirut.
“In the face of Israel’s systematic and dangerous escalation of violence, we affirm our right to defend our land, our sovereignty and our dignity by all available means and we do not hesitate to choose this option, regardless of the magnitude of the sacrifices,” he said.
“We inform our brotherly and friendly countries that we are in favour of peace and not war, as we seek permanent stability by recovering the occupied areas of our beloved south, and the commitment of the Israeli enemy to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701 with all its provisions. All Israeli attacks will not be able to deter us from this,” the Prime Minister said.
In this regard, he stressed that Beirut “welcomes any initiative that contributes to achieving what we want in terms of recovering what remains of our occupied lands and deploying the Army there in cooperation with international forces to prevent any violation of our internationally recognized borders.”
The Lebanese Shiite militia party Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas and backed by Iran, has been exchanging fire almost daily with the Israeli army along the border between Lebanon and Israel since the start of the offensive in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian armed group on October 7.
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