Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati says that Lebanon is ready to send its armed forces to the country’s southern border if a ceasefire with Israel is reached.
15:28•Updated 15:30
Prime Minister of Lebanon Najib Mikati says Lebanon is ready to send its armed forces to the country’s southern border, where the extremist organization Hezbollah is clashing with Israel.
According to Mikati, the Lebanese government is ready to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1,701.
It is a resolution passed in 2006 that called for Israel and Hezbollah to end hostilities. According to the resolution, Israel had to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
According to the resolution, Lebanon’s southern border should be controlled jointly by the Lebanese Armed Forces and the UN UNIFIL peacekeeping force, and Hezbollah forces should be removed from the area.
Mikati did not fully clarify what sending Lebanese troops to the southern border would mean.
– We are ready to implement resolution 1701, and after the ceasefire is concluded, to immediately move our troops to the south side of the Litani River to carry out their duties.
About 80,000 soldiers serve in the Lebanese Armed Forces. The leadership of Hezbollah has claimed that the strength of the extremist organization is around 100,000 members.