Lebanon is working towards a “permanent agreement” with Israel after the ceasefire that came into force last night, said the Lebanese President, ruling out any “sign of weakness” in negotiations with Tel Aviv.
“We find ourselves in a new phase”, declared Joseph Aoun in his first address to the nation since the beginning of the truce with Israel, which he marked as a transitional stage “to work towards a permanent agreement that safeguards the rights of the Lebanese people” and national unity and sovereignty.
For Aoun, the first direct negotiations between the two countries, which do not have diplomatic relations, should not be seen as “a sign of weakness or a concession”, nor as a ceding of national territory, despite the current Israeli occupation in the south of the country.
“We are confident that we will save Lebanon, (…) we have recovered Lebanon and Lebanon’s decision-making power for the first time in almost half a century”, continued the head of state, adding that his country is not and will not be “anyone’s theater of war”.
In this sense, he warned that he will not allow “a single Lebanese to die”, nor the continuation of the bloodshed of his people “due to the influence of third parties or the calculations of powers near or far”.
Lebanon was drawn into the war in the Middle East when Hezbollah resumed attacks against Israel on March 2, after the start of the Israeli-American offensive against Iran, an ally and financier of the Lebanese Shiite group.
On the same day, the Lebanese authorities banned Hezbollah’s military activities, after several months of seeking to disarm the Shiite group, which, however, refuses to hand over its military equipment while the country is under threat from Israel and has not ceased its air strikes against the neighboring country.
In response, Israeli forces launched a vast military operation in Lebanon, through intensive bombings allegedly against Hezbollah targets, in addition to expanding the land positions they already occupied in the south of the country in the previous conflict.
In the most recent report, Beirut authorities recorded 2,294 deaths in the last 45 days, including 274 women, 177 children and 100 health professionals and rescuers, 7,544 injured and over a million homeless people.
In his address to the nation, the Lebanese President thanked “all those who contributed to achieving the ceasefire”, specifically pointing out the North American President, Donald Trump, who he identified as his friend, as well as Saudi Arabia.
After announcing the start of the truce on Thursday, Trump indicated that Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should meet at the White House in Washington “in the next four or five days”.
