Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has warned that any escalation in southern Lebanon will lead to a “comprehensive explosion” in the region, as exchanges of fire between the Hezbollah resistance group and Israel continue.
Mikati made the remarks in a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Saturday, hours after Hezbollah said it had hit an Israeli aerial surveillance base with scores of missiles in its first response to Tel Aviv’s assassination of a deputy political leader of Hamas.
Mikati went on to say that “Lebanon’s commitment to implementing UN resolution number 1701 requires stopping Israel’s violations of our sovereignty and its withdrawal from our occupied territories.”
“The full implementation of this resolution requires first stopping Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty and withdrawing from the Lebanese territories it still occupies,” he added.
The Lebanese premier further called for “a comprehensive solution” to the Palestinian cause by giving the Palestinians their just rights.
The southern Lebanese border has seen regular exchanges of fire, mainly between Israeli forces and Hezbollah since Tel Aviv launched its ferocious invasion of Gaza in early October.
Nearly three months of cross-border fire have killed 175 people in Lebanon, including three journalists.
In northern Israel, at least 13 Israelis including nine soldiers have been killed, according to Israeli authorities.
The assassination of Hamas’ Deputy Chief Saleh Al-Arouri by the Israeli regime in southern Beirut on Tuesday has raised fears of further escalation.
Arouri, 57, was one of the founders of the Qassam Brigades before taking on a political portfolio in recent years.
He was seen as a key player in the movement, masterminding its operations in the West Bank from exile in Syria, Turkey, Qatar, and finally Lebanon after long stints in Israeli prisons.
The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
The relentless military campaign has killed over 22,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured around 57,910 others.
