Negotiations with Israel only option to achieve goals in south: Lebanese president

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Wednesday that negotiations with Israel are the only option for achieving Lebanon’s goals in the south, especially the liberation of Israeli-occupied territory and the national army’s deployment in the region. While meeting officials from Lebanon’s Maronite Church, Aoun said these objectives could not be achieved through war, according to a statement released by his office. Aoun said the decision to hold talks with Israel had been taken to avoid devastation and suffering caused by war, adding that the negotiations were “neither easy nor quick … but they remain far better than war.” “We agree on the same goals: liberating the south, deploying the army to the [international] border, recovering prisoners, and enabling residents to return and rebuild,” he said. These goals, he added, “cannot be achieved through war, as has become clear, so there is no option but negotiations.” On Beirut’s plan to carry out financial and economic reforms, Aoun said that he and his government sought to address “corruption that had been rampant for years.” The Lebanese authorities, he added, are “fighting a war against those who reject the logic of the state.” Since early March, Israel has carried out extensive attacks on southern Lebanon, claiming that it is targeting Hezbollah. The latter has responded by attacking Israeli forces deployed in southern Lebanon, effectively ending a ceasefire that had been in place since late 2024. In June, Lebanon and Israel signed a US-backed framework agreement calling for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory and the Lebanese army’s deployment into vacated areas. In reference to Hezbollah, the agreement also calls for the disarmament of armed groups.