Officials Exert Efforts to Unify Lebanon’s Stance on Negotiations with Israel

Efforts are underway to unify Lebanon’s position on negotiations with Israel amid disagreements on how to approach the issue, particularly as Hezbollah objects to the process and wages what critics describe as a systematic campaign against President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, even as both enjoy broad support among most political factions. A meeting between Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Salam is expected to be held this week in an effort to consolidate Lebanon’s position. Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said his country had no intention of seizing Lebanese territory. Speaking at a joint news conference with Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric, Saar said: “Israel has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon. Our presence in areas along our northern border serves one purpose only: protecting our citizens,” referring to the deployment of Israeli forces in parts of southern Lebanon. His remarks came as the Israeli military continues air and ground operations against Hezbollah despite the ceasefire. Aoun has drawn broad domestic backing since a first-of-its-kind statement Monday in which he accused Hezbollah of betrayal, saying: “The traitor is the one who dragged his country into war in pursuit of foreign interests.” In a sign of support, MP Melhem Riachi visited him as an envoy of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. After the meeting, Riachi said: “We held wide-ranging talks on current developments, particularly negotiations between Lebanon and Israel aimed at securing a ceasefire and containing the situation in the south.” “I expressed full support for the president’s efforts,” he added. Referring to reports about a possible meeting involving Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, Riachi said: “We encourage him to meet (US) President Donald Trump, and if other meetings are to take place, they should come at the appropriate time …. We have no objection to any step that spares Lebanon and its people, especially our people in the south.” Echoing his remarks, the political bureau of the Kataeb Party, meeting under the chairmanship of MP Sami Gemayel, said Aoun’s position “expressed the will of the Lebanese, who reject a militia – Hezbollah – unilaterally imposing its will on the Lebanese in service of the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” It added that the roadmap laid out by Lebanon to reach peace is being translated in practice through the negotiating track launched under Arab and international sponsorship. The political bureau called for creating the conditions necessary for the Israeli withdrawal, the end to attacks, the return of detainees, the end to war, the deployment of the Lebanese army and the launch of reconstruction.