Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun says his nation seeks peace with Israel, however is just not able to normalise ties.
Lebanon’s president says his nation desires peace however not normalisation with Israel, as well being authorities stated an Israeli air strike killed one individual within the south of the nation.
In addition to inflicting one loss of life on Friday, the drone assault on a automotive in Nabatieh district wounded 5 different folks, in accordance with Lebanon’s Ministry of Well being.
It comes as Israel continues to launch common strikes towards websites in Lebanon, significantly within the south, regardless of a November 27 ceasefire settlement between it and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Beneath the phrases of the truce, Hezbollah needed to retreat to the north of the Litani River, which is about 30km (20 miles) from the Israeli border, whereas Israel needed to totally withdraw its troops, leaving solely the Lebanese military and United Nations peacekeepers within the space.
Nonetheless, Israel nonetheless occupies 5 strategic places in southern Lebanon.
Talking on Friday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun expressed a want for peaceable relations together with his nation’s neighbour. However he harassed that Beirut was not at the moment fascinated about normalising ties with Israel, one thing talked about as a chance by Israeli International Minister Gideon Saar final week.
“Peace is the shortage of a state of battle, and that is what issues to us in Lebanon in the mean time. As for the problem of normalisation, it isn’t at the moment a part of Lebanese international coverage,” stated Aoun, who urged Israel to withdraw fully from Lebanon.
Smoke billows from the Nabatieh district, following Israeli strikes, as seen from Marjayoun, in southern Lebanon, on June 27, 2025 (File: Karamallah Daher/Reuters)
In a reference to the US’s ongoing name for Lebanon to totally disarm Hezbollah, the Lebanese president additionally expressed Beirut’s want to “maintain the monopoly over weapons within the nation”, however he didn’t give additional particulars.
Hezbollah, which is significantly weakened after greater than a yr of hostilities with Israel, has dismissed questions on disarmament.
“We can’t be requested to melt our stance or lay down arms whereas (Israeli) aggression continues,” its chief Naim Qassem informed crowds in southern Beirut on Sunday.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army confirmed that a few of its troops had entered southern Lebanon, with the military saying they sought to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure and to cease the group from “reestablishing itself within the space”.
The next day, a person was killed by an Israeli drone strike on a bike within the village of al-Mansouri close to Tyre, the Lebanese Ministry of Well being stated. Two others have been injured within the assault, it added.
