Aoun rejects an American request to hold “direct contact” with Netanyahu

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun rejected an American request to hold “direct contact” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to what an official source told Agence France-Presse on Thursday, the day after US President Donald Trump announced an upcoming call between the leaders of the two countries. The source said that Aoun “rejected direct contact with Netanyahu and informed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of that,” adding: “The American side was understanding.” The Lebanese presidency had previously reported that Rubio had called Aoun, in which he “thanked him.” “On the efforts made by Washington to reach a ceasefire and support it at all levels.” Earlier, Aoun considered that the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel should constitute the “natural entry point” to the upcoming direct negotiations with Tel Aviv.

Aoun said, according to a statement issued by the presidency, that “the ceasefire demanded by Lebanon with Israel will be the natural gateway to direct negotiations between the two sides,” two days after the ambassadors of Lebanon and Israel in the United States held the first direct talks between the two countries in decades, during which they agreed to hold direct negotiations at a date to be determined later.

The presidential statement, which came after Aoun met with British Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs Hamish Falconer, did not refer to any anticipated contact between a Lebanese and Israeli official, as Trump had announced earlier.