Lebanon's President Aoun: "We will accept nothing less than full sovereignty"

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun chaired a high-level meeting Tuesday with Army Commander General Rudolf Hage and members of the advisory team accompanying Lebanon's delegation to the Washington negotiations, as the fifth round of Lebanese-American-Israeli talks enters what he described as a potentially decisive phase.

In a pointed statement, Aoun drew a clear red line: Lebanon will accept nothing less than the complete end of Israeli occupation of the south and the simultaneous dismantling of all foreign tutelage over Lebanese affairs.

"We declare today that we will not accept anything less than the disappearance of Israeli occupation from southern Lebanon and the fall of foreign guardianships - together - because our only choice is our national sovereignty," the president said.

Aoun defended the decision to pursue direct negotiations, pushing back against critics who have questioned the approach. "The developments of recent days have proven the soundness of our choice to resort to negotiation, as it is the only path universally recognised for achieving national objectives and restoring rights in full."

The president's reference to "foreign tutelages" - in the plural —- was deliberate and pointed: a signal that Lebanon's sovereignty demands apply not only to Israeli military presence in the south, but equally to Iranian influence exercised through Hezbollah.

"The Lebanese state alone - and no other - protects everyone, preserves the freedoms and dignity of all," Aoun concluded, in a formulation that leaves no ambiguity about where ultimate authority must reside.

The fifth round of negotiations in Washington is expected to continue over the next two days.