The president of Lebanon affirms that the ceasefire will be “the starting point” in negotiations with Israel

The president of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, stressed this Thursday that the ceasefire will be “the starting point” in the negotiations with Israel, when direct contacts are expected with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after the talks begun in Washington to end the clashes between the Israeli Army and the Shiite militia party Hezbollah.

“The ceasefire that Lebanon demands from Israel will be the natural starting point for direct negotiations between both countries, in accordance with the presidential initiative,” he indicated in a message released by his office, after the meeting with the British Secretary of State for the Middle East, Hamish Nicholas Falconer.

In this sense, the Lebanese president has insisted on Lebanon’s “commitment” to “stop the escalation in the south and in all Lebanese regions”, insisting that attacks against “innocent civilians” and “the destruction of homes in Lebanese towns and cities” must stop.

According to Aoun, the Lebanese authorities will be “the only ones in charge of the negotiations”, emphasizing that sovereign issues are being discussed so “no one else can intervene”, after pointing out that a key step would be the withdrawal of Israeli military forces from Lebanese territory.

Likewise, he has pointed to the redeployment of the Lebanese Army “to international borders”, “fully extending state authority and ending all armed presence.”

On Israel’s side, Israel’s Minister of Science and Technology, Gila Gamliel, revealed that Netanyahu will hold a conversation with Aoun during the day, insisting that the contact will take place “after many years of total disconnection in the dialogue between the two States.” “I hope that this movement, in the end, leads to prosperity,” he noted.

In any case, it has been Washington that has pushed to maintain the call, after the president of the United States, Donald Trump, stated that “the two leaders” of Lebanon and Israel would speak during the day on Thursday. “The two leaders have not spoken for a long time, about 34 years. It will be tomorrow,” Trump said in a brief message on social networks.

Lebanon had on several occasions demanded that Israel open bilateral negotiations, something only accepted last Thursday by Netanyahu, who ordered direct negotiations with Lebanon to establish “peaceful relations” and work together to “dismantle” Hezbollah, a point that Beirut also claims.

Lebanon and Israel, which do not maintain diplomatic relations, last held high-level talks in 1993, although not at the rank of president and prime minister.