Lebanon refuses to reach an agreement with Israel if it does not completely withdraw troops from the south of the country

The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Nawaf Salam, has refused this Thursday to reach an agreement with Israel that includes a deployment of troops in the south of the country for a “security zone”, as insisted by the Israeli authorities, which is why he has insisted on the importance of the “complete withdrawal” of the military.

During an interview with the American newspaper ‘The Washington Post’ a few hours before the second round of talks between Israeli and Lebanese representatives in Washington, Salam urged the United States to “pressure Israel to moderate its demands” precisely on the issue of the buffer zone.

The prime minister has insisted that Lebanon “cannot accept something like this” and has expressed that the country “cannot live with a buffer zone” in the south. “They are troops placed in areas where the Lebanese themselves have had to move and where they cannot return, which have been destroyed and cannot be rebuilt,” he lamented.

Furthermore, he has stressed that Washington’s role in the negotiation process is “key” considering that it is the US Government that can truly “mediate between the parties” and “make Israel see reason.” “Their role was fundamental in achieving a ceasefire, and we hope they continue like this,” he added.

Salam has also urged an extension of the already fragile truce, but has admitted that there is a certain degree of uncertainty in relation to Thursday’s talks. “I don’t know what we can achieve through negotiation, but I know what we want. We don’t want even a single stone left unturned to achieve our objectives,” he said.

Regarding the disarmament of the Lebanese Shiite party-militia Hezbollah, he stated that “the only way to achieve this is to reinforce the Lebanese Army.” “A State cannot have two armies,” he noted, while explaining that disarmament is “a process, not something that can happen overnight.” “We are taking it seriously,” he stressed.

Last week, Lebanon and Israel reached a temporary ten-day truce that, however, has not put an end to the exchange of attacks between the Israeli Army and Hezbollah. In this latest Israeli offensive against the neighboring country that began on March 2, nearly 2,400 people have died and more than 7,600 have been injured.