Lebanon is in immediate need of a ceasefire, caretaker PM says

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati says the country needed a ceasefire in hostilities between Israel and armed group Hezbollah, saying around 1.2 million people in Lebanon had been displaced by Israeli attacks.

“Stop fighting. We don’t need more blood. We don’t need more destruction,” Mikati says in an online briefing organized by the American Task Force on Lebanon, a US-based non-profit. “There is an immediate need for a ceasefire.”

Mikati says a diplomatic end to the escalating war would be a “win-win” for Israel and Lebanon and “all parties” would respect such a deal.

The caretaker premier says he hopes to deploy 10,000 Lebanese army troops in the south if a ceasefire is agreed.