Lebanon ready to deploy army to the south: PM Mikati
Lebanon’s caretaker PM is now addressing journalists in the capital Beirut.
He has reiterated commitment to an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon while adding that the government is ready to deploy the army in the south.
Lebanon PM ready to implement 2006 deal on Hezbollah armed presence
The Lebanese government is also ready to fully implement the UNSC Resolution 1701 of 2006 that aimed to end Hezbollah’s armed presence south of the Litani River as part of an agreement to stop war with Israel, Mikati said.
“We in Lebanon are ready to implement 1701, and immediately upon the implementation of the ceasefire, Lebanon is ready to send the Lebanese army to the area south of the Litani River and to carry out its full duties,” Mikati told journalists.
Resolution 1701 ended the monthlong Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006 and called for a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, with only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers maintaining a presence there.
The Litani lies about 30km (about 20 miles) from Lebanon’s southern border.
Lebanese soldier killed in Israeli attack in southern Lebanon
Lebanon’s National News Agency is reporting that a Lebanese army soldier has been killed after he was wounded in an Israeli drone attack on a checkpoint in Wazzani, southern Lebanon.
The army said the Israeli strike targeted a motorcycle he was riding as it went through an army checkpoint in south Lebanon near the border.
“A soldier was killed when a drone belonging to the Israeli enemy targeted a motorcycle as it was passing through … the Lebanese army checkpoint” in the Wazzani area close to the Israeli border, a statement on X said.
It is the first soldier announced killed since Israel began bombing Lebanon heavily last week.
At least 45 people killed in Israeli attack on southern Lebanon
Lebanon’s Health Ministry says the death toll from an Israeli raid on the southern town of Ain al-Delb, east of Sidon, has risen to 45.
At least 75 people have been wounded.
Separately, the ministry said 12 people were killed and 20 wounded after an Israeli raid on Bekaa town on Sunday night.
Several paramedics killed in Israeli strike: Ministry
Lebanon’s Health Ministry says six paramedics were killed and four wounded in an Israeli attack on a civil defence centre in Sahmar, western Bekaa.
“The Ministry of Public Health mourns the brave martyrs and salutes the courage of all Lebanese paramedics who did not hesitate to perform their humanitarian duty despite the threats, intimidation and terror they were subjected to in order to hinder them from their first aid mission,” the ministry said on X.
On Sunday, it said 14 paramedics had been killed in Lebanon over a period of two days.
Campaign launched to raise awareness on unexploded ordnance in Lebanon
British NGO Mines Advisory Group (MAG), which operates in Lebanon, has launched a campaign to advise people of the dangers of unexploded ordnance.
“We know from our experience globally that a significant proportion of the ordnance that has hit Lebanon will have failed to explode and will be lodged in the rubble, buried underground or simply lying on the surface,” said MAG CEO Darren Cormack.
“This poses a severe risk to the civilian population, may cost lives and will hamper reconstruction efforts and any return to normality when the conflict abates. Parts of Lebanon have now endured almost a year of aerial bombardments but the latest escalation obviously poses additional and acute risks to communities,” he added.
