Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he hoped an intervention of friendly countries would restore calm to his country’s southern border with Israel, Al Arabiya reported Sunday morning. Mikati spoke after a closed meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.
“We are counting on the efforts of friendly countries to ensure a breakthrough in the current crisis and work towards to the restoration of peace and the return of calm on the southern border,” he said on Saturday. He also demanded that Israel end its “aggressive actions” in Gaza.
Turkish media omitted the PM’s statement and only reported that the meeting had taken place behind closed doors.
Erdogan, who has been repeatedly calling Israel a “terrorist state,” said, “The country most affected by the Gaza war is Lebanon, and we hope that the truce will continue so that Lebanon will remain safe and calm.”
Mikati, 68, is a three-term Prime Minister of Lebanon. He previously served as Prime Minister from June 2011 to February 2014, and from April to July 2005. One of the leaders of the Sunni community in Lebanon, Mikati is considered a compromise figure, not being close to any particular political bloc. He denies any ties to Hezbollah and describes himself as a liberal and a businessman.
In 2019, Lebanon’s state prosecutor pressed charges against Mikati for illegitimate gains through subsidized housing loans. In October 2021, Mikati was named in the Pandora Papers leak but denied any wrongdoing.
