Lead:
Over the past three days, columnists at Al-Diyar and An-Nahar have engaged intensively with three overlapping crises: the seventh round of indirect Lebanese-Israeli negotiations in Rome and their fragility, the internal constitutional tensions within Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's cabinet—particularly between Salam and Defence Minister Michel Manssi—and the broader question of whether Lebanon can navigate external pressure from the United States, France, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia without fracturing further.
Voices & Positions:
In Al-Diyar, columnists argue that Rome produced only "technical success and stalled objectives." The seventh negotiation round proceeded amid repeated ceasefire breaches; Israel, they contend, acts as it wishes without constraint. Separately, contributors observe that President Joseph Aoun has intervened to manage friction between Salam and Manssi, though the underlying constitutional crisis over ministerial authority within parliament remains unresolved. Writers stress that the Salam government survives not through domestic consensus but through international conditions—a fragile equilibrium dependent on US, Saudi, and Turkish calculations rather than Lebanese will.
An-Nahar columnists situate Lebanon within a transformed Middle East. They note that October 7 (the third anniversary of which falls within this reporting window) reshaped the region's geometry but has not yet produced a stable new order—only strategic vacuums. One contributor warns that Washington and Tel Aviv diverge on southern Lebanon's future, potentially derailing negotiations; another argues that Switzerland's proposed role as a neutral monitor in the south reflects Israel's desire for international cover. Writers express skepticism about betting on either Donald Trump or Iran, framing Lebanon as trapped between incompatible regional blocs.
Tension & Convergence:
Writers converge on the fragility of current arrangements: Rome talks progress technically while ceasefires collapse; government survives administratively while constitutional questions mount. They diverge sharply on whether external actors (the US, France, international mediators) offer genuine pathways forward or merely manage decline. Some see room for Turkish mediation between the Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah; others see only escalating military pressure and regional entrenchment.
Editorial Takeaway:
The dominant voice across both publications is that Lebanese state institutions persist in crisis suspension—neither collapsing nor stabilizing—while international actors jostle for influence over outcomes Beirut cannot control.