(14 Aug 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beirut, Lebanon – 14 August 2024
1. Various of Lebanese ministers meeting, headed by Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Nasser Yassin, Lebanese Caretaker Environment Minister:
“We’ve been working on our preparedness plan, contingency plan, in case of an all-out aggression from Israel on Lebanon. We are comparing and benchmarking to the July 2006 war, when Israel waged war on Lebanon. We estimate we might have one million, refugees or displaced (people) from Lebanese towns and cities in case they are under attack. And we are working with the UN agencies, with the office for humanitarian affairs, and the UN agencies, and the government and the different administration, different agencies, different ministries to be prepared."
3. Various of Mikati during meeting
4. Nasser Yassin during meeting
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nasser Yassin, Lebanese Caretaker Environment Minister:
"We fully take responsibility for the situation we see before us in southern Lebanon. There is a systematic destruction of border villages and towns. There are daily assaults that escalate these aggressions. The least we can do is take our responsibilities with full seriousness, courage, and with all the strength we have. What we see happening in Gaza is a genocide, and we cannot treat this matter as if it’s just a casual situation."
6. Close of Lebanese flag
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nasser Yassin, Lebanese Caretaker Environment Minister:
"We have prepared 200 schools to serve as shelters in case the attacks escalate. There is also cooperation with international organisations, and meetings and discussions have been held with donor entities on how to proceed."
8. Mid of media
9. Yassin leaving news conference
STORYLINE:
The Lebanese government has been scrambling to put together an emergency plan should the ongoing conflict in the south turn into an all-out war between Israel and the powerful Hezbollah group.
Caretaker Environment Minister Nasser Yassin, who is taking the lead in implementing the plan, said the government was using the country’s last war with Israel, a six-week long conflict in July 2006, as a benchmark.
“We estimate we might have one million displaced from Lebanese towns and cities in case they are under attack,” Yassin told The Associated Press after a government meeting in Beirut.
Since Hezbollah and Israel began exchanging fire on October 8 the government has scrambled to prevent the skirmishes from turning into an all-out war.
Now, following a rare Israeli strike into southern Beirut that killed a top Hezbollah commander and at least five civilians, the country fears a retaliatory strike from the Iran-backed group could spark a conflict that would devastate the country of about six million people.
Lebanon’s economy for years has been battered, and so Yassin has been relying on close cooperation with United Nations agencies and other international organisations to help prepare the plan, which includes improving medical capacity and providing shelter and assistance to displaced people.
Talking to reporters following a Cabinet meeting, Yassin said that 200 schools were being prepared to become shelters, and that regular meetings with international organisations were ongoing.
AP video shot by: Fadi Tawil Mahamad Anouti
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