BEIRUT: Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Wednesday the country needed a ceasefire in hostilities between Israel and armed group Hezbollah, saying around 1.2 million people in Lebanon had been displaced by Israeli attacks.

"Stop fighting. We don't need more blood. We don't need more destruction," Mikati said in an online briefing organized by the American Task Force on Lebanon, a U.S.-based non-profit. "There is an immediate need for a ceasefire."

Mikati said a diplomatic end to the escalating war would be a "win-win" for Israel and Lebanon and "all parties" would respect such a deal.

The caretaker premier said he hoped to deploy 10,000 Lebanese army troops in the south if a ceasefire is agreed.