Lebanon in a state of war, resistance, government does its duty

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Lebanon was in a state of war and stressed that the resistance and the government were “fulfilling their duty” towards Israel.

Mikati visited the southern city of Tyre on Saturday, where he inspected the Lebanese army’s operations center. He also visited the city’s examination centers on the first day of official school exams, accompanied by Education Minister Abbas Halabi.

In remarks to reporters, the prime minister stressed that the resistance was fulfilling its “duties” and that the Lebanese government was doing so as well.

“We have always stood for peace and our choice is to choose peace and implement UN Resolution 1701. It is Israel’s duty to stop its repeated attacks on Lebanon and end the war in Gaza, with everyone adhering to UN Resolution 2735,” Mikati said.

He continued: “The resistance is doing its duty and the Lebanese government is doing its duty and our goal is to protect the country in the truest sense of the word.”

He also praised the army as the “backbone and shield of the nation.”

“We are in a state of war and there have been many martyrs among civilians and non-civilians and many villages have been destroyed due to Israeli aggression,” he explained.

Halabi, for his part, spoke about the difficulties facing students in the southern border towns in the face of the conflict with Israel.

He had previously stated that the ministry had provided buses to safely transport students from unstable areas to examination centers, which were guarded by Lebanese forces and UN peacekeepers.

Many of the students who were assigned to centres in areas considered “safe” spoke of the difficulties they faced in preparing for exams, as many of them did not have access to the Internet in the makeshift shelters or houses to which they had been displaced due to the Israeli bombing of their towns and villages.

The minister promised to take this issue into consideration and said: “We will seek the opinion of educators on this matter, especially the Education Research and Development Center.”

There are 29 official examination centers in the Southern Governorate. The number of students who took their exams was 5,470 out of 5,624.