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NRI Latest News: The Lebanese government is ready to fully implement a United Nations resolution aimed at expelling Hezbollah’s armed presence south of the Litani River, the last element of an agreement that would bring an end to war with Israel, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said.
Lebanon stands ready to fully implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and deploy the army south of the river, about 30 km from Lebanon’s southern border, according to Mikati.
Mikati said he and House Speaker Nabih Berri agreed that electing a new president to fill a nearly two-year vacancy at the top post would only happen after a ceasefire took hold, comments he delivered after the pair met in Beirut.
What is UN Security Council Resolution 1701? UNSC 1701 marked the end of the four-week-long 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, and demanded that the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers are the only armed forces beyond the Litani River while it called for full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
In 2006, the United Nations called upon the parties concerned to implement the long-term solution based on, among other things, full respect for the Blue Line by both parties; full implementation of relevant provisions of the Taif Accords; no foreign forces in Lebanon without the consent of its Government; no sales or supply of arms and related materiel to Lebanon except as authorized by its Government; and provision to the United Nations of all remaining maps of landmines in Lebanon in Israel’s possession.
More than 1,000 Lebanese killed: Israeli forces have dealt multiple blows to Hezbollah in a two-week wave of attacks on targets in Lebanon that has eliminated several commanders. The possibility that Israel’s next move might be to send ground troops and tanks over the border is on many minds.
According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, more than 1,000 Lebanese have been killed and 6,000 wounded in the last two weeks, though the ministry provided no distinction between those deaths and injuries among civilians and others. The government says that over one million people, nearly a fifth of the population, have fled their homes.
UNSC 1701 Resolution: “We in Lebanon are ready to implement 1701, and immediately upon the enforcement of the truce, Lebanon is ready to deploy the Lebanese army south of the Litani River and exercise all of its prerogatives,” coordinated with UN peace-makers, Mikati said. He said parliament would then convene to elect a consensus president.
