JAKARTA - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday said Israel's withdrawal from the country's southern region was an "unnegotiable" demand that authorities would pursue through negotiations, days before a new round of talks in Washington, United States.
In a statement commemorating Israel's earlier withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 after about two decades of occupation, President Aoun said "this year, the anniversary of the liberation comes when Lebanon is burdened by a painful reality."
"Israeli attacks have not stopped and our beloved southern villages are still suffering under the renewed occupation," he said, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (26/5).
Israeli forces who invaded Lebanon during the latest war with Hezbollah that began on March 2 operate within a self-declared "yellow line" that stretches about 10 kilometers (six miles) inside Lebanese territory.
The Israeli military has also carried out massive attacks far beyond the territory even though the ceasefire was supposed to take effect from April 17.
"Lebanon will not accept this reality," President Aoun said.
"The path to Israel's full withdrawal will remain an unwavering and constant national demand that the Lebanese state seeks through the option of negotiation," he added.
Lebanon and Israel began important US-mediated talks last month and are preparing for a fourth round in early June, preceded by a meeting between military delegations at the Pentagon on May 29.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Sunday reiterated his opposition to direct talks with Israel and his group's refusal to disarm, as they continue to carry out attacks on Israeli targets in southern Lebanon and across the border.
"If this government is not able to guarantee sovereignty, they must leave," Qassem said, adding: "Where is the sovereignty if America runs the wheel of the Lebanese state?"
President Aoun said the negotiations were neither "concessions nor surrender."
"The liberation of the southern region is a task undertaken by the state with the support of its people," said the Lebanese President.
Lebanese authorities have pledged to disarm Hezbollah and ban its military activities after the group dragged Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket attacks on Israel, in response to attacks that killed Iran's top leader.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned what he called "Hezbollah's reckless call to overthrow the democratically elected Lebanese government," accusing it of "actively trying to drag Lebanon back into chaos and destruction."
Qassem said "the people have the right to take to the streets and overthrow the government" in response to Israeli attacks and US sanctions on the al-Qard al-Hassan financial institution linked to Hezbollah, which Beirut wants closed.
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