Lebanese PM suggests Hezbollah is ready to comply with UN resolution for fighters' withdrawal

UNSCR 1701 requires the armed group to withdraw north of Litani River

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Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati suggested on Friday that Hezbollah may abide by a UN resolution to withdraw militants to north of the Litani River, as the government seeks a ceasefire with Israel after its deadliest attack on Beirut.

Mr Mikati said his government was keen to implement UNSCR 1701, pointing out that Hezbollah is also part of the cabinet.

“The diplomatic solution is on the table, and Hezbollah is a partner in the government and agrees to implement the 1701,” the Prime Minister said, as he called for an immediate ceasefire and end to Israel's bombardment of the country.

The resolution was adopted in 2006 to end the month-long war between Hezbollah and Israel. One of it multitude of terms requires any non-state armed factions, such as Hezbollah, to disarm and withdraw from the area between the Israel-Lebanon border and the Litani.

The resolution has never been fully implemented in part because Israel has repeatedly violated Lebanese airspace – prohibited under the agreement.

Lebanon is committed to “the deployment of the army in the south and the bolstering of its presence along the border”, Mr Mikati affirmed after a meeting of his cabinet. “Hezbollah is in agreement on this issue,” he added.

He also said that Lebanon's Foreign Ministry would ask the UN Security Council to issue a resolution calling for a “full and immediate ceasefire”.

His remarks came after at least 22 people were killed in an Israeli strike on central Beirut, the deadliest in the latest escalation.

While defeating Israel militarily remains Hezbollah's priority, it is open to any efforts to stop “the aggression”, the head of the Lebanese group's media office, Mohammad Afif, said in a televised press conference on Friday.

“You [Israel] have barely seen anything yet. What happened in Haifa, Acre, and Safed over the last 10 days is only the beginning,” he said.

“We are not living in 1982, when the Israeli tanks reached Beirut and changed the political balance. I won't say any more than that.”

Two soldiers were killed and three others injured when Israeli forces targeted a Lebanese army post in the village of Kafra, southern Lebanon, on Friday, the Lebanese armed forces said.

Israeli forces also fired at an observation post belonging to the Unifil peacekeeping force at its main base at Naqoura in southern Lebanon on Friday, injuring two people, a UN source said. Israeli forces breached the perimeter of another Unifil position they had fired at on Thursday, the source added.

The Israeli army said it expresses deep concern over incidents of this kind and “is currently conducting a thorough review at the highest levels of command to determine the details”.

On Thursday, two Indonesian peacekeepers were injured when the Israeli military fired at an observation tower in their compound in southern Lebanon, UN officials said. Mr Mikati condemned attacks on peacekeeping forces, labelling it a crime.

Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem on Tuesday declared the group's support for a ceasefire with Israel without linking it to a truce in Gaza as a precondition for the first time, indicating a shift in its stance after significant setbacks.

The group has suffered severe blows in the past few weeks, from the assassination of its leadership to the explosion of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies used by members, to air strikes hitting its premises in Lebanon and Syria. While the group attempts to rebuild, Israel has launched a ground invasion into south Lebanon in a bid to destroy Hezbollah's military capabilities and infrastructure in the region.

At least 2,141 people have been killed in Lebanon since October 8 last year when Hezbollah opened a front with Israel in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza.

Last week, The National reported that Israel had initially agreed to a ceasefire with Hezbollah but later “caught mediators off guard” by assassinating the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah, and intensifying its attacks on Lebanon.

Despite its setbacks, the group has continued to launch rockets at Israel. A Thai worker was killed in northern Israel as a result of fallen munitions, probably fired from Lebanese territory, the Israeli military said. The Israeli air force said it killed a Hezbollah commander responsible for attacks with anti-tank missiles on the Ramot Naftali area of northern Israel.

Rocket sirens were heard in northern Israel's Akka on Friday and further south in Haifa after rockets were reportedly fired from Lebanon. Israel's army radio said 20 rockets were fired towards Israel. Israeli media also reported significant damage at a factory in Haifa's Kiryat Bialik, with no immediate reports of casualties.