Dec. 23 (UPI) — Lebanon’s leader on Monday toured southern parts of his country amid large Israeli gains of Hezbollah weapons. Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for Israel’s military to exit the region after a recent cease-fire agreement.
Mikati toured the eastern sector in the southern part of the country with Army Commander General Joseph Aoun to inspect army units and the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon in the town of Khiam, which has been destroyed after recent military campaigns.
Mikati announced Lebanon “will definitely” have a reconstruction plan in place for its war-torn parts and said the country will seek help from the World Bank, European Union and other Arab countries to establish a “trust fund” for the effort.
Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants are expected to withdraw from the region under the month-old ceasefire agreement that calls for Lebanese troops to deploy in southern Lebanon with Israeli and Hezbollah forces to leave.
The IDF in recent days and weeks seized some 86,000 pieces of weaponry in south Lebanon during military operations as part of its broader goal to secure relative calm in northern Israel by siphoning off weapons from the terror syndicate Hezbollah, according to reports.
مقر قيادة القطاع الشرقي في “اليونيفيل” في بلدة ابل السقي،المحطة الثانية في جولتنا في الجنوب و كان في استقبالنا قائد اليونيفيل الجنرال ارولدو لاثارو وقائد القطاع الشرقي في اليونيفيل الجنرال فرناندو رويث#UNIFIL @UNIFIL_ pic.twitter.com/FN1OTy3Bl5— Najib Mikati (@Najib_Mikati) December 23, 2024
Israeli troops marched in at the end of September in its offensive to push back Hezbollah from the border.
On Monday, Mikati, 69, praised the UNIFIL’s role after meeting with U.N. force commanders and underscored the need for IDF troops to withdraw out of Lebanon so its own military can carry out its mission.
Mikati has lead the Middle Eastern country north of Israel off-and-on since 2005.
Officials say the Israeli army previously located warehouses which contained scores of rockets, mortars, explosives and anti-tank missiles the IDF then confiscated. They added some of the uncovered rocket launchers were used to launch attacks at Israeli settlements in the Galilee panhandle region.
On Sunday, it was likewise announced that Israel military forces uncovered and destroyed a massive underground complex in southern Lebanon. Israeli authorities said the complex was used by Hezbollah and contained a trove of weapons, such as anti-tank missiles, explosives, as well as computers, communication devices and electrical systems.
Military forces also located a firing position aimed at Israeli settlements to its north with additional weapons, Israeli authorities said.
Meanwhile, Israel has continued its military exercises in the plagued Gaza Strip, too. Medics in Gaza said Monday that Israeli airstrikes killed at least 20 people overnight, Voice of America reported.
Current figures indicate more than the 45,200 people have so far been killed in Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, according to the Gaza-run health ministry. However, it does not differentiate between civilians and Hamas fighters in its count.
Tom Fletcher, the U.N.’s humanitarian chief, added how Israel continues to strike in densely populated areas, “including on areas where Israeli forces have ordered people to move, causing destruction, displacement and death,” he said.