Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has stressed the importance of “national unity” as Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said it was premature to talk of any high-level meeting between Lebanon and Israel.
Speaking during a meeting with heads of Akkar municipal federations and mukhtars at Baabda Palace on Wednesday, Aoun stressed “the importance of strengthening national unity,” noting that “preserving Lebanon requires not repeating the mistakes of the past.”
“We will preserve Lebanon, and we will not forget the past so that we do not repeat it in the present or the future. Let this past be a lesson from which we learn; we must always remember that we have always been together in this country and will remain so, and this is our shared responsibility,” Aoun added.
Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have continued to rage in southern Lebanon despite a US-mediated ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel announced on April 16.
Washington last month hosted two meetings between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States.
In his remarks on Wednesday, Salam said Lebanon was not seeking "normalization with Israel, but rather achieving peace.”
The current circumstances "are not ripe to talk about high-level meetings," he added.
"Our minimum demand is a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal," he said, adding that the government would develop its plan to restrict weapons to state control - an effort aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament.
Also Wednesday, the Council of Maronite Bishops reiterated its support “for all efforts made by the President of the Republic, the government, and the Parliament to stop the war, reclaim Lebanese territories, rebuild, and facilitate the return of displaced persons and prisoners.”
The Council meeting, which was chaired by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, stressed in a statement that “the moment Lebanon is experiencing is historic and pivotal, requiring courageous and responsible national stances rooted in Lebanon's supreme interest and national security.”
The Council affirmed that “Lebanon is not merely a circumstantial political entity, but a message founded on freedom, pluralism, and coexistence,” emphasizing that “the full and non-selective implementation of the Taif Agreement remains the fundamental entry point for rebuilding the state, consolidating the principle of exclusive state control over arms, and strengthening the role of institutions.”
It also considered that “the language of treason, threats, and blatant media campaigns serves only the enemies of Lebanon,” affirming Lebanon's commitment to Arab and international legitimacy and to international resolutions, especially Security Council resolutions 1559, 1680 and 1701.
The Council spoke of “major transformations in the region,” noting that they “necessitate an approach to the negotiation process with Israel under Arab and international sponsorship in a way that serves Lebanon's supreme interest,” considering that “a return to the 1949 Lebanese-Israeli Armistice Agreement can constitute a fundamental milestone in this path.”
