September 9 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister Nayib Mikati on Monday defended the need to convene a “special session” of the UN Security Council to address the situation in his country and approve “effective” measures against Israeli bombings.
Mikati has gathered diplomatic representatives and representatives of international organisations at the Government Palace in Beirut and has asked them for a new UN resolution for a ceasefire, according to the newspaper ‘L’Orient le Jour’.
Specifically, he called for “more effective and decisive measures” against “violations of international law and the Geneva Convention” and “attacks carried out by Israel against Lebanese civilians.” He also called for a “rapid and strong response” from the UN.
Three members of the Lebanese Civil Defence were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Frun, southern Lebanon, on Saturday, bringing the number of rescuers killed since 7 October to 25. A total of 606 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, including 138 civilians, according to official figures.
Following the meeting, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said that Mikati had requested “the holding of a Security Council meeting on Lebanon, in particular on attacks against civilians” through the Lebanese delegation to the UN.
“We are not asking the Security Council to stop the fighting, but rather to hold a consultative meeting that could lead to that or at least prevent civilians from being attacked. That is why we are acting in all international forums. We are in contact with all countries, as well as with the Security Council, and in the event of a ceasefire, there will have to be a new resolution,” he explained.
Any resolution on a ceasefire would be “a new one” and not a “modification of resolution 1701” of 2006. “If a good resolution (of a ceasefire) is reached, we will accept it as a state and we will try to convince Hezbollah, because it is the responsibility of the Lebanese state,” he explained.
Add Comment