Mikati: Arab, int'l efforts still ongoing to halt Israeli aggression
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday announced that “the Arab and international efforts are still ongoing to halt the Israeli aggression on Lebanon.”
“But the Israeli intransigence and the efforts by the enemy to achieve what it considers as gains and victories are still obstructing the success of these efforts,” Mikati added.
He continued, telling his visitors: “Some might believe that the diplomatic efforts have stopped, and that there is what resembles tacit approval for Israel to carry on with its aggression, but this impression is not true.”
“We are continuing the necessary contacts and Lebanon’s friends from the Arab and foreign countries are also continuing the pressure to cease the fire for a specific period in order to discuss the main political steps, most importantly the full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and compelling the Israeli enemy to implement it,” the premier went on to say.
Lebanon is a perpetrator and not a victim. Mikati and Berri have allowed us to align with and fight for Hamas. The Wall Street Journal puts it this way: "In August, Khaled Mashaal spoke at a conference in Turkey, stating, "We want to return to martyrdom operations. This situation can only be addressed by open conflict. They are fighting us with open conflict, and we are confronting them with open conflict."
"For years, Hamas had been split between extreme conservatives such as Sinwar, who view the deaths of civilians as necessary to destabilize Israel, and terrorists who countenance violence but want the group to preserve some political legitimacy as a route to achieving its aims of a Palestinian state."
To Hamas, the death of Lebanese, like the death of Gazans, is necessary.