Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday called for national unity to face the brutal Israeli occupation war on the country which claimed the lives of 1,640 people. "Our national responsibility at this historic and exceptional moment requires putting aside political differences so that we all meet on what preserves and protects the homeland and strengthens it," Mikati said at the beginning of the cabinet meeting today. "I implore you today to put aside our political differences, divergent positions, and different options, and to all rally around what preserves and protects our homeland." Mikati urged everyone to demonstrate national responsibility in light of the horror of what the homeland is being subjected to, in terms of the brutal Israeli aggression that has affected most Lebanese regions. He underlined the need to elect a new president for the country to deal with the growing challenges. "We are called upon at this fateful moment to renew our unity and embody it by working quickly to elect a president for the republic so that we can save our country and protect our people. "This is a collective responsibility that does not exclude anyone, as the danger threatens us and does not distinguish between one group and another, or one sect and another, or one component and another," he said. The Prime Minister called for a minute of silence in mourning for the soul of the martyr, Hassan Nasrallah and all "the martyrs who fell as a result of the war of extermination waged by the Israeli enemy against Lebanon." Mikati emphasized that the government is doing everything in its power to confront this destructive, hateful war that Israel is waging against Lebanon. "We went to the United Nations to reach a solution, but the enemy went with the intention of treachery and plotting for more massacres," he regretted. He apologized for any shortcomings that may have occurred on part of the government in tending to the urgent needs of the displaced families, saying, "The displacement of our children in the target ed areas has reached a level that has exceeded all expectations." Mikati reiterated his call for "stopping the Israeli aggression and implementing international resolution 1701 and all relevant international resolutions," and renewed Lebanon's commitment to international legitimacy and international law. "At this difficult time, we also reaffirm the role of the army and security forces in protecting the country, preserving its borders, the unity of its people, and its role," Mikati concluded. Source: Kuwait News Agency