Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that Lebanon and its people are tired of wars, stressing that the goal of negotiations with Israel is to bring the state of hostility to an end.
اضافة اعلان
Speaking after meeting Greek President Konstantinos Tasoulas, Aoun said Lebanon and Israel had signed a U.S.-brokered “framework agreement,” calling on both sides to fully implement it without selectivity.
He also called on Greece to help, to the extent possible, ensure the agreement is implemented.
“It is time for Lebanon to have peace. We are determined to end the state of hostility, and the solution lies in diplomacy, not war,” Aoun said.
Aoun stressed that Lebanon’s stability is essential to the stability of the region and Europe, warning that any unrest in the country would have broad negative repercussions. He also affirmed Lebanon’s efforts to “develop relations between the two countries on all levels in a way that serves their common interests.”
Lebanon and Israel concluded the framework agreement on June 26 after five rounds of U.S.-sponsored negotiations. The agreement primarily provides for the disarmament of Hezbollah, Israel’s gradual withdrawal from areas it occupies in southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese Army beginning in designated “pilot areas.”
The framework agreement calls for a reciprocal and phased process under which the Lebanese Army would gradually restore effective sovereign authority over the entire country, alongside the disarmament of non-state armed groups and the dismantling of their infrastructure. This would allow Israeli forces to redeploy outside Lebanese territory under security arrangements and verification mechanisms set out in a U.S.-supported security annex.
Hezbollah has categorically rejected direct negotiations with Israel and giving up its weapons.
Israel continues to maintain forces in southern Lebanon under what it calls a “security zone” extending up to 10 kilometers along the border, while continuing to carry out strikes and large-scale demolition operations.
Washington has announced that it will sponsor a new round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in Rome in early September, saying it was “pleased with the way things are developing.”
The latest war erupted after Hezbollah launched rockets toward Israel in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran.
