Lebanon PM slams Israel’s ‘war of extermination’

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati yesterday slammed the ongoing Israeli “war of extermination” on villages and towns in southern Lebanon which has so far claimed the lives of nearly 500 people.

“The continuing Israeli aggression on Lebanon is a war of extermination in every sense of the word and a destructive plan that aims to destroy Lebanese villages and towns,” Mikati told a cabinet meeting.

He urged “the United Nations and the General Assembly and influential countries… to deter the [Israeli] aggression.”

Mikati highlighted that UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, fears that southern Lebanon could turn into a second Gaza, adding that this “should be an incentive for everyone, especially the decision-making countries, to pressure Israel to stop its aggression and implement Security Council resolution No. 2735 and resolve the Palestinian issue based on the two-state solution and a just and comprehensive peace.”

Israel yesterday carried out the deadliest day of strikes on Lebanon in almost 20 years, killing almost 500 people and injuring over 1,000.

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