Mikati defends the full application of Resolution 1701 as the “only solution” to the conflict in Lebanon

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MADRID 20 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The acting Prime Minister of Lebanon, Nayib Mikati, stressed this Sunday that the application of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 is the “only viable solution” to the war unleashed in the country after the Israeli invasion.

“There is no solution except diplomatic means. It is still on the table,” Mikati said in statements to the Al Arabiya network. In that sense, he has defended Resolution 1701, which dates back to 2006.

“Resolution 1701 gives us long-term stability. We are fully committed to it,” he highlighted. Mikati considers this text as “a critical tool for maintaining peace in southern Lebanon” linked to the 1989 Taif Agreement that ended the Lebanese Civil War.

“The Taif Agreement stipulates the extension of State sovereignty to all Lebanese territories. It is our cornerstone for stability in southern Lebanon, to end this war,” he argued.

The subsequent Resolution 1701 “lays the foundation for enabling the Lebanese Army to take control of the conflict zones south of the Litani River.” “1701 means, in short, expanding the sovereignty of the State through the Armed Forces,” he noted.

The Lebanese military presence south of the Litani River “is necessary,” he stressed, while expressing his willingness to send between 10,000 and 20,000 troops to this region.

Mikati has also added that Hezbollah also agrees to the terms of Resolution 1701. “Hezbollah is in the Government, with me, and agrees with 1701,” he explained, although he has acknowledged that communications with Hezbollah have been interrupted since the middle of the last month.