"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," in coordination with UN peacemakers, Mikati said in a press conference after a meeting with parliament speaker Nabih Berri.  

He also stressed that Lebanon accepts everything mentioned in the statement issued by the United States and several European and Arab countries calling for a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.    

In separate remarks on Monday, Mikati called for an end to Israel's aggression on Lebanon during a meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in Beirut.

"The key to the solution is to put an end to the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and to revive the appeal launched by the United States and France ... in favour of a ceasefire," Mikati said, according to a statement from his office.

Barrot arrived in Beirut Sunday, the first foreign diplomat to visit Lebanon since Israel escalated its attacks on Lebanon.

In 2000, Israel withdrew its forces from most of southern Lebanon along a UN-demarcated “Blue Line” that separated the two countries and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

The UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, increased their presence along the withdrawal line.    

UN Security Council Resolution 1701 was supposed to finish the incomplete work from 2000 and end the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon. It called for a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and that the Lebanese army and the UNIFIL be the only armed forces south of the Litani River, which lies about 30 km (around 20 miles) from Lebanon's southern border.    

The goal was long-term security, with land borders eventually demarcated to resolve territorial disputes.

For years, Lebanon and Israel blamed each other for countless violations along the tense frontier.    

Lebanon has repeatedly complained about Israeli military jets and naval ships entering Lebanese territories even when there is no active conflict.      

The UNIFIL has urged Israel for years to withdraw from some territories north of the frontier but to no avail.    

Mikati also said he and Berri agreed on holding a parliamentary session to elect a new president as soon as a ceasefire in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel takes hold.  

Lebanon has been without a president since October 2022, when the term of Michel Aoun ended.