Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister is calling for an immediate cease-fire, the full implementation of the UN resolution that ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war and the deployment of 8,000 Lebanese troops to a buffer zone along the border with Israel. Najib Mikati spoke Thursday at a conference in Paris in support of Lebanon.
The Lebanese army has largely kept to the sidelines in the latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. It says Israeli forces have targeted its soldiers on eight occasions, killing and wounding several. Israel apologised for a deadly strike on Sunday. UN Security Council called for Hezbollah and Israeli forces to withdraw from areas south of Lebanon’s Litani River and for the area to be controlled by the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers.
Israel says the resolution was never implemented and that Hezbollah built up military infrastructure all the way to the border. Lebanon has accused Israel of ignoring other provisions, including by violating its airspace.
The Lebanese army has around 80,000 forces, with around 5,000 deployed in the south.
Representing the Lebanese Army at the Paris conference, Brig Gen Youssef Haddad said that Lebanon is working on recruiting 1,500 additional soldiers to help implement the UN resolution, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Hezbollah boasts tens of thousands of fighters. Lebanon’s military is not strong enough to impose its will on the militant group or to resist Israel’s ground invasion.
