Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday said a security deal and an end to Israeli attacks were needed before any meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sought by Washington.
Aoun’s office said in a statement that the president reiterated his view that the timing is not appropriate now for a meeting with Netanyahu.
The statement quoted Aoun as saying, “We must first reach a security agreement and stop the Israeli attacks on us before we raise the issue of a meeting between us.”
Israeli and Lebanese representatives last month met twice in Washington, the first such meetings in decades, which came after Iran-backed Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on 2 March, sparking heavy Israeli strikes and a ground invasion.
After the first talks, US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon that began on 17 April, and a three-week extension after the second round.
The two countries are preparing for direct negotiations.
Aoun’s office said it expected a third round of preparatory talks in the coming days.
At the second meeting later in April, Trump said that he expected Aoun and Netanyahu to meet jointly with him at the White House over the next couple of weeks.
Last week, the US embassy in Beirut urged such a meeting, saying that “Lebanon stands at a crossroads. Its people have a historic opportunity to reclaim their country and shape their future.”
“The time for hesitation is over,” it added.
The planned negotiations have caused a rift in Lebanon, with Hezbollah rejecting direct negotiations as well as Beirut’s previous commitment to disarm it.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem earlier on Monday criticised direct talks, saying they put Lebanon under tutelage, and called for diplomacy that leads to an end to the war instead.
“Direct negotiations are a gratuitous concession, without results,” Qassem said.
Aoun said, “there is no turning back from the path of negotiations, because we have no other option.” According to a statement from his office, he reiterated that the process sought to achieve the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon.
On Monday, US ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa told journalists that “to me, if the president (Aoun) visited President Trump, there is no loss.”
“Aoun can go and present his decisions clearly to Trump and Netanyahu, and after returning to Lebanon we can begin negotiations. “I don’t know why people consider such a visit a loss or concession”, Issa added.
“Aoun will go to present all Lebanon’s demands, most importantly the sovereignty of its lands,” Issa added more.
Israeli strikes have killed almost 2,700 people in Lebanon, including dozens since the ceasefire.
