Lebanon Prime Minister Nawaf Salam reaffirmed that no one in the country wants to establish diplomatic relations with Israel after a senior Beirut official accused Israeli authorities of trying to do so, the people reported.
Israeli forces continued to occupy five locations on the border with Lebanon, and invaded the country’s south last year by saying it was an attempt to counter the threat of Hezbollah, a powerful group of Lebanese people.
Israeli forces were to withdraw from southern Lebanon on January 26th due to a ceasefire agreement agreed with Hezbollah in November.
Salam said five regions “have no military or security value” were retained in Israel’s “other than maintaining pressure on Lebanon.”
“No one in Lebanon wants normalization with Israel and that is being rejected by all Lebanese,” he said Wednesday.
Israel continues to repeatedly bomb South Lebanon despite the ceasefire agreement. Lebanese health officials say more than 4,000 people were killed last year in an Israeli attack.
Salam said that while the situation was still in place, Beirut has not “used all the measures of political and diplomatic pressure.”
According to Israeli media, unnamed Israeli officials have expressed interest in establishing ties with Lebanon, with the support of President Donald Trump’s new US administration.
Lebanon and Israel are technically at war. It is a serious crime for the Lebanese people to communicate with anyone in Israel or enter the country.
Hezbollah remains a deeply divided issue in Lebanon, but most Lebanese are united in their attitude towards Israel and its actions.
Congressional Speaker Navi Beli said this week, “Israel intends to draw us into political negotiations that will normalize relations between the two countries, but this is not an issue for us.”
It was when French Presidential Envoy Jean Ives Le Dryan arrived in Beirut.
He visited President Joseph Aoun at the Presidential Palace in Babda, east of Beirut, and met Salam on Wednesday. The latter said Le Dorian’s visit was focused on reconstruction efforts.
The main topic is the reconstruction of parts of Lebanon due to the war between Hezbollah and Israel. Israeli forces continue to regularly bomb the country’s south with spikes over the weekend after three rockets were launched in Israel.
Last October, the Paris conference raised $1 billion for Lebanon’s humanitarian aid and security, and in the coming months France aims to raise more for its reconstruction efforts. The World Bank estimates the short-term cost of recovery and recovery is $11 billion.
Aoun is scheduled to visit France this weekend on his first official overseas trip since becoming president in January. Le Dorian was among the guests when Mr Orn was sworn in the Lebanese Parliament.
Former colonial power France was a major player unleashing the impasse that led to two years of caretaker government and institutional paralysis in Lebanon. The election of Aoun, the naming of Salam as Prime Minister, and the formation of the Cabinet took place very quickly. French President Emmanuel Macron came to Lebanon in January for a support show.