Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has signaled his country's desire for full normalization with Lebanon, just ahead of a key round of peace talks scheduled in Washington.
Gideon Saar © Mena Today
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has signaled his country's desire for full normalization with Lebanon, just ahead of a key round of peace talks scheduled in Washington.
"We want to achieve peace and normalization with the Lebanese state," Saar declared at a joint press conference alongside his Czech counterpart Petr Macinka in Jerusalem. "There are no major disputes between Israel and Lebanon. The problem is Hezbollah."
The Israeli minister argued that Hezbollah had attacked Israel "against the will of the Lebanese government," framing the militant group as a threat to both Lebanese sovereignty and Israeli security. For Jerusalem, the path to a new chapter is clear: Beirut must disarm Hezbollah before any meaningful progress can be made.
The Washington talks, set to take place under the mediation of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will bring together Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad, alongside US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa.
European Union foreign ministers reached an agreement on Monday on new sanctions targeting violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, as well as leading Hamas figures, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
Israel's Iron Dome has been nearly 99% effective against missiles from Hamas and Hezbollah militants and has knocked out most missiles from Iran, the chairman of state-owned Iron Dome maker Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd said on Monday.
President Donald Trump's swift rejection of Iran's response to a U.S. peace proposal sent oil prices surging on Monday amid concerns the 10-week-old conflict will drag on, keeping shipping through the Strait of Hormuz paralysed.
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