Egyptian FM calls for empowering Lebanese army so it can control southern Lebanon

Egypt wants to see the Lebanese army empowered so that it can control southern Lebanon, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Italy yesterday, according to an Egyptian readout.

The Egyptian statement says that Abdelatty focused on the Palestinians, decrying “aggressive Israeli policies against the Palestinian people and their disastrous repercussions on the security and stability of the region and the entire world under the ongoing violations of international law and international humanitarian law.”

Adbelatty also emphasized the importance of increasing humanitarian aid into Gaza, and argued that there will be no stability in the region without “the end of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.”