With the first anniversary of the Lebanon–Israel ceasefire approaching, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, told the Security Council on Thursday that “the time for dialogue and negotiations is now.”
Nawaf Salam © This is Beirut
With the first anniversary of the Lebanon–Israel ceasefire approaching, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, told the Security Council on Thursday that “the time for dialogue and negotiations is now.”
Briefing members on the implementation of Resolution 1701 alongside UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Hennis-Plasschaert said the shifting regional context has created “unique opportunities” for both sides. Lebanon, she stressed, “must seize this moment,” and Israel “must do the same.”
She warned that Israel’s continued military activity across Lebanon, as well as the presence of its forces north of the Blue Line, remain clear violations of Lebanese sovereignty. The current situation, she said, “serves neither Israel’s nor Lebanon’s strategic interests” and risks “greater instability—if not today, then tomorrow.”
While acknowledging progress since the ceasefire, the UN envoy emphasized urgent priorities: restarting dialogue, restoring state authority across the country, and advancing reforms needed to unlock international financial support.
She praised the Lebanese Army’s efforts against non-state weapons, but stressed that “the army alone cannot deliver Resolution 1701.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Thursday that Beirut is ready to negotiate with Israel and would seek U.S. support to facilitate talks, describing Israel’s lack of response so far as “a mystery.”
He also insisted that Hezbollah’s disarmament “is underway,” while calling for better equipment for the Lebanese Army amid Israel’s escalating strikes in the south.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz declared Monday that Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza for an indefinite period, in a pointed statement that makes no reference to the US-Iran framework agreement announced the same day.
Authorities in southern Lebanon warned people displaced by three months of war between Israel and Hezbollah against rushing home on Monday despite a U.S.-Iran deal to end the wider conflict, as Israel said it would not withdraw troops from the south.
Let us call it what it is. The framework agreement on Iran is not a peace deal. It is a capitulation dressed up in diplomatic language, and its most immediate victims are the two countries that have paid the highest price in blood and treasure to confront Iran's aggression: Israel and Lebanon.
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