
File photo- Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. AFP
"We demand pressure on Israel to commit to a ceasefire and implement Resolution 1701 immediately," Mikati said in a statement referring to the UN Security Council Resolution which ended the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006.
Mikati renewed Lebanon's support for the joint call issued by France and the United States of America, with the support of the European Union and Arab and foreign countries, for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border.
He also praised French President Emmanuel Macron's support for Lebanon and his call on Saturday to stop transferring arms to Israel for use in Gaza.
"Once again, French President Emmanuel Macron expresses his support for Lebanon and stands by the Lebanese people in facing the crises afflicting them, and his announcement yesterday about holding an international conference to support Lebanon this month in France is clear evidence of this support," the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) quoted Mikati as saying.
He emphasized: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attack on President Macron merely for calling for a halt to the transfer of arms to Israel for use in Gaza and considering the priority to be a political solution rather than continuing the war, proves the correctness of the French stance."
"It is not surprising that this stance is met with open hostility from Netanyahu, who is a disgrace to humanity as a whole," Mikati added.
Further Israeli bombing
In Beirut, airstrikes lit up the skyline and loud explosions echoed across the southern suburbs, known as the Dahiyeh, throughout the night.
The Israeli strikes reportedly targeted a building near a road leading to Lebanon’s only international airport.
Israeli strikes killed 23 people and wounded 93 others across Lebanon on Saturday, the Lebanese health ministry said, without including casualties in more recent bombardment on Beirut's southern suburbs early Sunday.
Israeli raids targeted towns and villages of south Lebanon, Nabatieh, the eastern governorate of Beqaa, Baalbek-Hermel, Mount Lebanon, and the north, the ministry added in a tweet on their X account.
At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians and medics, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes in less than two weeks since Israel started its aggression on Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military said about 30 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory, with some intercepted.
Hezbollah said it successfully targeted a group of Israeli soldiers after they tried to infiltrate Khallat Shuaib in Blida, in southern Lebanon.
A statement said fighters fired rockets at Israeli troops during the evacuation of "dead and wounded soldiers" in the Al-Manara settlement after midnight.
Hezbollah also said it launched a swarm of drones targeting the Israeli Shamshon base.
Rocket sirens blared in several of Israel's northern settlements, according to Israeli media.
Short link: