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Lebanon President Says 'Necessary to Negotiate' with Israel

President Joseph Aoun speaks at the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025, in New York. (AFP)
President Joseph Aoun speaks at the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025, in New York. (AFP)
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Lebanon President Says 'Necessary to Negotiate' with Israel

President Joseph Aoun speaks at the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025, in New York. (AFP)
President Joseph Aoun speaks at the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025, in New York. (AFP)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called for negotiations with Israel on Monday, after US President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire in Gaza.

In October 2023, Iran-backed Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israel in support of Hamas in the Gaza war.

Months of hostilities escalated into all-out war in September 2024, before a ceasefire was agreed two months later.

Israel has continued to strike Lebanon, saying it is hitting Hezbollah targets, but according to the United Nations over 100 civilians have been killed since the truce.

"The Lebanese state has previously negotiated with Israel under American and United Nations auspices, resulting in an agreement to demarcate the maritime border... so what prevents the same thing from happening again to find solutions to the outstanding issues," Aoun said according to a presidency statement.

"Today, the general atmosphere is one of compromise, and it is necessary to negotiate," he added, specifying that "the form of this negotiation will be determined in due time".

The US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect on Friday.

There are no formal ties between Israel and Lebanon.

"We cannot be outside the current path in the region, which is the path of crisis resolution," Aoun said, stating it was "no longer possible to tolerate more war, destruction, killing, and displacement".

The United States began efforts to help demarcate the land border between Lebanon and Israel in 2023, after sponsoring an agreement on the maritime border between the two countries in 2022.

However, the violence between Hezbollah and Israel froze those efforts.

The current demarcation line between the two countries, drawn by the United Nations in 2000, includes 13 disputed points.

Israel is also occupying five border points it considered strategic after its war with Hezbollah.

In a speech to the United Nations in September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "peace between Israel and Lebanon is possible", calling on Beirut to "begin direct negotiations" with his country.

Under US and Israeli pressure, Lebanon's government is seeking to disarm Hezbollah, and the Lebanese army has drawn up a plan to do so beginning in the country's south.

Aoun said "Israel continues to send military and bloody messages to pressure us", hoping to reach a time now when "Israel commits to halting military operations against Lebanon and the negotiating process begins".

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.