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.
The United States delivered a pointed assessment at the UN Security Council Thursday, accusing the Assad regime of having "permitted or turned a blind eye" to Hezbollah's activities and captagon trafficking networks, allowing the Iran-backed group to "sow destruction in Syria and across the region."
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 45-day extension of a ceasefire that has tamped down the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as two days of talks facilitated by Washington concluded on Friday with an agreement to hold further meetings in the coming weeks.
"This year we will not be at Eurovision, but we will do so with the conviction of being on the right side of history."
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