Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati today called for a truce with Israel, following talks he had with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barot, in the first visit of a high-ranking Western diplomat to Beirut since the intensification of Israeli strikes against Lebanon.

“The key to the solution lies in ending the Israeli attack on Lebanon and returning to the call made by the US and France with the support of the EU and Arab and foreign countries for a ceasefire,” Mikati said, according to a statement from the office. of.

“The priority is to implement Resolution 1701” of the UN, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, he added.

Baro arrived Sunday night in Beirut, where for the first time since 2006 Israel struck a target in the heart of the Lebanese capital, killing three members of a Palestinian armed group.

So far the Israeli strikes have been concentrated in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Hezbollah, as well as in southern and eastern Lebanon.

The French minister handed over emergency health aid to Lebanon’s health ministry yesterday before holding a working meeting on the situation of the 23,000 French citizens living in Lebanon.

Today Baro met with Maronite patriarch Messara Rai and is expected to hold talks with Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, and parliament speaker and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri.

Washington and Paris, along with Arab, Western and European countries, last week called for an “immediate 21-day ceasefire” between Israel and Hezbollah to “give diplomacy a chance”.

Israel ignored the initiative and intensified its strikes against Lebanon. On Friday, he killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.