Lebanon16 September, 20263 min read
Joseph Aoun Says Lebanon Wants Security Agreement With Israel After Troop Withdrawal
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Aoun seeks a security agreement with Israel after Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon. He says Hezbollah must be disarmed without confrontation.
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Aoun seeks Israel security deal
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told AFP in an exclusive interview that Lebanon wants a security agreement with Israel once Israel withdraws its troops from southern Lebanon, as a possible prelude to peace. Aoun said the agreement would be “primarily to end the state of hostility and the deployment of the army on the border,” while insisting “We have no choice but negotiations, because the alternative is war, which would be very costly for us,”. He also said Lebanon wants a new force, European or otherwise, to prevent a security vacuum after UN peacekeepers leave south Lebanon when their mandate expires at the end of the year, and he argued that any new force would be “temporary until the (Lebanese) army can deploy”.
“Aoun said he wants a security agreement with Israel ‘primarily to end the state of hostility and the deployment of the army on the border.”
Aoun framed the push as part of a broader effort to support Lebanese troops as they deploy across the country, calling on the United States, European Union and Arab countries to back Lebanon’s military as it deploys across the country. In the same AFP interview, Aoun reiterated that the decision to disarm Hezbollah was “neither negotiable nor open to discussion” and said “The objective is not a confrontation,” adding “We are determined to resolve this issue peacefully.”
Paris conference centers sovereignty
French Chief of Staff General Fabien Mandon told Le Monde that a Paris meeting opened by French President Emmanuel Macron, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun “is not a donors' conference, but a preparatory milestone” to define the Lebanese military institution’s needs as the UNIFIL mission ends. Mandon said the “core of the Paris conference” is Lebanon’s state sovereignty path and weapons restraint, describing the discussion as requiring a complex, gradual path based on trust-building rather than multiplying conditions. He said he is working with his Italian counterpart on concepts for the post-UNIFIL phase and argued that “any solution requires the participation of all parties, and there should be no veto from any side.”
Mandon also stressed France’s stance on sovereignty and the use of force inside Lebanon, saying France staunchly upholds sovereignty “which concerns borders and the use of force inside Lebanon, a condition for the country's stability.” In the same Le Monde interview, he said the meeting’s goal is to consult with all parties who may wish to help Lebanon “especially with the end of the UNIFIL mission,” and he described Lebanese soldiers as “brave” while saying “the military institution embodies the Lebanese people's aspiration for solid national unity.”
Disarmament and UNIFIL endgame
Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir said on Wednesday that disarming Hezbollah as part of an agreement with Beirut “cannot be achieved” unless the Lebanese army significantly improves its effectiveness on the ground. Zamir made the remarks during a visit to the army’s 91st Division operating in southern Lebanon, and he ordered maintaining troop readiness and a high level of operational preparedness in light of regional developments. He claimed the Israeli army had “achieved many significant operational accomplishments and weakened Hezbollah” in Lebanon, and he said Israel was determined to remove Hezbollah’s military presence from the area south of the Litani River and move toward disarming the group.
“‘What matters is that there is no vacuum,’ he told AFP in an interview on Tuesday.”
Zamir added, “This goal cannot be achieved within the framework of a desired agreement with the Lebanese government unless the Lebanese army significantly improves its effectiveness on the ground,” while Aoun, in a separate account, rejected Israeli claims that Lebanon’s army was failing to perform its responsibilities. As the UNIFIL mandate is set to end at the end of the year, Aoun told AFP that “What matters is that there is no vacuum,” and he said any new force for Lebanon’s south would be “temporary until the (Lebanese) army can deploy,” tying the sequence to the deployment of the Lebanese army after a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.