Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said on Thursday that the group rejected direct negotiations with Israel and that the Lebanese government should demand a ceasefire as a precondition before any further steps are taken.
Hezbollah Member of Parliament Ali Fayyad, Reuters
Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said on Thursday that the group rejected direct negotiations with Israel and that the Lebanese government should demand a ceasefire as a precondition before any further steps are taken.
Fayyad's statement came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed his cabinet to begin direct talks with Lebanon. Fayyad said the Lebanese government's position should also prioritize the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanese territory and the return of displaced people to their homes.
Reporting by Laila Bassam
Direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon will begin next week, a senior Israeli official has confirmed, a landmark development that marks the first formal talks between the two countries in decades.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he has given an instruction for Israel to begin peace talks with Lebanon that would also include the disarming of Hezbollah.
Lebanon's cabinet took a landmark step Thursday, formally tasking the army and security forces with establishing a monopoly on weapons in Beirut, with the explicit goal of declaring the capital a "Hezbollah-free weapons zone."
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