Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri denied on Saturday that the appointment of civilian negotiators between Lebanon and Israel means that political negotiations have been launched between the two neighbors.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the negotiating team is primarily tasked with ensuring that the Lebanese army carries out Lebanon’s part of the ceasefire with Israel.
The army is close to completing the first phase of the agreement to impose state monopoly over arms in southern Lebanon, he added.
Other phases of the deal will follow to cover the whole of Lebanon.
Mitri added that attention must be focused on not giving Israel excuses to attack Lebanon, meaning Lebanon must meet its ceasefire obligations.
He warned, however, that Israel "could expand its military operations in Lebanon with or without excuses."
He noted that the United States appears to be pressuring Israel against launching a new war against Lebanon.
Lebanon is close to completing the disarmament of Hezbollah south of the Litani River, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Saturday, as the country races to fulfil a key demand of its ceasefire with Israel before a year-end deadline.
The US-backed ceasefire, agreed in November 2024, ended more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and required the disarmament of the Iran-aligned group, starting in areas south of the river adjacent to Israel.
Lebanese authorities, led by President Joseph Aoun and Salam, tasked the Lebanese army on August 5 with devising a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms by the end of the year.
"Prime Minister Salam affirmed that the first phase of the weapons consolidation plan related to the area south of the Litani River is only days away from completion," a statement from his office said.
"The state is ready to move on to the second phase - namely (confiscating weapons) north of the Litani River - based on the plan prepared by the Lebanese army pursuant to a mandate from the government," Salam added.
The statement came after Salam held talks with Simon Karam, Lebanon's top civilian negotiator on a committee overseeing the Hezbollah-Israel truce.
Since the ceasefire, the sides have regularly accused each other of violations, with Israel questioning the Lebanese army's efforts to disarm Hezbollah. Israeli warplanes have increasingly targeted Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and even in the capital.
Israel has publicly urged Lebanese authorities to fulfil the conditions of the truce, saying it will act "as necessary" if Lebanon fails to take steps against Hezbollah, which has refused to disarm.
