Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati presided over a session for the Council of Ministers at the Grand Serail.
The session was attended by Deputy PM Saade Chami, and the ministers of education, information, finance, industry, tourism, interior, health, environment, telecom, culture, labor, agriculture, public works, displaced, and economy.
Also attending had been the Director General of the Presidency of the Republic, Dr. Antoine Choucair, and the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, Judge Mahmoud Makieh.
At the end of the meeting, Caretaker Minister of Information, Ziad Makary, said: “During the session, we were informed of the new Israeli aggression on the southern suburbs of Beirut. The Prime Minister and the ministers affirmed that this attack on a populated residential area proves once again that the Israeli enemy does not give weight to any humanitarian, legal or moral considerations. Rather, it is proceeding with what resembles genocide. We witnessed its ugliest forms in the aggression that took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, which claimed dozens of martyrs and thousands of wounded. This new aggression is at the disposal of the global conscience and the international community, which is silent about the violation of human rights, justice and laws."
He added: "The Prime Minister spoke at the beginning of the session saying that the unprecedented security earthquake in the logic of wars that Lebanon was exposed to this week, and which claimed thousands of victims between martyrs and wounded, is a shameful and condemned criminal act, and is similar to genocide and a terrible massacre. We are raising this issue to the international community and the human conscience, as an indictment of the Israeli enemy, demanding a clear position in the face of these atrocious massacres."
Premier Mikati continued to say "We have requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council today so that it assumes its responsibilities towards Lebanon, which is a founding and active member of the United Nations and is committed to its charters and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, especially since all the communications I received yesterday from senior international officials confirmed that the Israeli enemy has crossed the red lines."
Minister Makary said: “The Prime Minister added: Lebanon calls on the international community to assume its full responsibilities regarding what happened, and I have asked His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs to ensure that in all his meetings at the United Nations he will address Lebanon’s request that international laws be enacted to spare civilian technological means from military and war targets, because what happened in Lebanon this week in terms of a described aggression is a genocide targeting the entire Lebanese people.”
Makary added: "Premier Mikati said: On the international level, I also asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs to deliver Lebanon's speech at the UN Security Council and also at the UN General Assembly. However, in light of the recent incidents and recent contacts, I was urged to be personally in New York, and from this standpoint I made my decision today to head to New York. I also contacted Minister Bou Habib and asked him to continue representing Lebanon and delivering Lebanon's speech. However, there are contacts and sideline meetings in which I will be participating to confirm that there is still room for a diplomatic solution which we hope will yield the desired results for long-term stability on the southern front."
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