Lebanese interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Beirut is ready to increase the number of troops in the south of the country near the Israeli border in the event of a ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.
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“We currently have 4,500 troops in the south and we want to increase their number to 7-11 thousand… We can transfer soldiers (if a ceasefire is reached),” Mikati said in an interview with AFP on Tuesday.
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According to him, there are currently “short-term incursions” by Israeli forces into southern Lebanon.
Since October 1, Israel has been conducting a ground operation against Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon and continues aerial bombing of the neighboring country, where more than 2.3 thousand people have already died, including leaders of the Shiite movement, and more than a million people have become refugees. Despite losses, including in command personnel, Hezbollah is conducting ground battles and does not stop rocket attacks on Israeli territory.
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The main goal of the military campaign in Israel is to create conditions for the return of 60 thousand residents of the north who were evacuated due to shelling launched by Hezbollah a year ago in support of the Palestinian Hamas movement.
