HIGH LEVEL MEETINGS PREMATURE
Salam, in comments reported by Lebanon’s National News Agency on Wednesday, said shoring up a ceasefire would be the basis for any new negotiations between Lebanese and Israeli government envoys in Washington.
Washington last month hosted two meetings between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States. Hezbollah strongly objects to the contacts.
Since Hezbollah triggered the war by opening fire in support of Iran on March 2, the Lebanese administration led by Salam and President Joseph Aoun has initiated Beirut’s highest-level contacts with Israel in decades, reflecting deep divisions between the Shi’ite Muslim group and its Lebanese opponents.
Announcing a three-week extension of the ceasefire on April 23, US President Donald Trump said he looked forward to hosting Netanyahu and Aoun in the near future, and that he saw “a great chance” the countries would reach a peace deal this year.
Salam said Lebanon was not seeking “normalization with Israel, but rather achieving peace”.
“Our minimum demand is a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal,” he said, adding that the government would develop its plan to restrict weapons to state control – an effort aimed at securing Hezbollah’s disarmament.
Aoun said this week the timing was not right for a meeting with Netanyahu. Lebanon “must first reach a security agreement and a halt to the Israeli attacks, before we raise the issue of a meeting between us,” he said.