00:00Well, I thank Prime Minister Mikati and my friend Nijap for his warm welcome and our always useful exchange of
00:10views.
00:11I want to say that I am proud of being the first head of government to visit Lebanon since the
00:19beginning of the military escalation
00:22and the only one who visited twice since October 7 last year.
00:29And my presence here today is first of all an expression of solidarity and closeness to civilians from all sides
00:37who are suffering from the consequences of the conflict.
00:41As you know, Italy together with the other international partners has been calling for a 21-day CS fire for
00:50weeks now.
00:50And I want to thank the Prime Minister as well as Speaker Barry, whom I'll meet later today, for having
00:58accepted this proposal.
01:00It is very, very important for us.
01:03I came from Brussels, where I attended the European Council, and obviously the crisis in the Middle East was at
01:12the core of our works.
01:13And I can assure you that we are all working for a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza and here in Lebanon.
01:20We are supporting negotiations for the release of Israeli hostages from the hands of Hamas.
01:27And we are all striving to find the best ways to assist the civilian populations hit by this war.
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