Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday vowed to do “the impossible” to stop cross-border hostilities between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Speaking during a meeting with Christian lawmaker Michel Daher and a delegation from Lebanon’s agricultural unions, Aoun said Beirut’s framework for the U.S.-mediated peace talks centers on “an Israeli withdrawal, a ceasefire, the deployment of the [Lebanese] Army along the border, the return of the displaced, and economic aid,” according to a readout.
“Anything discussed outside this framework is incorrect,” he said.
Aoun added that “my duty, based on my position and my responsibility, is to do the impossible, and to choose what is least costly, in order to stop the war against Lebanon and its people.”
The Lebanese president said his country had already suffered the consequences of past conflicts.
“We have tested wars and where they have brought Lebanon,” he said. “Can anyone still bear their cost anymore?”
Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones at Israel from Southern Lebanon on March 2, after the Jewish state’s targeted killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28.
In response to the terrorist organization’s violation of the U.S.-brokered Nov. 27, 2024, truce, Jerusalem launched an aerial campaign against Hezbollah and ordered the Israel Defense Forces to take control of additional areas in Southern Lebanon to halt cross-border attacks.
Jerusalem and Beirut on April 16 agreed to a 10-day ceasefire following mediation by U.S. President Donald Trump. The two countries on April 23 agreed to extend the truce for three more weeks following historic direct talks in Washington, D.C. A third round of talks on Thursday and Friday led to the truce being extended for another 45 days.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott called the negotiations last week “highly productive.”
The State Department will reconvene the political track of negotiations on June 2 and June 3, Pigott stated.
Separately, “a security track will be launched at the Pentagon on May 29 with military delegations from both countries,” according to Pigott.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 26 accused Hezbollah of “essentially disintegrating” the ceasefire agreement with Beirut through its incessant terrorist attacks.
“Therefore, as far as we are concerned, what obligates us is the security of Israel, the security of our soldiers, and the security of our communities,” the premier said. “We are acting vigorously according to the rules we agreed upon with the United States, and incidentally, with Lebanon as well.”
