Lebanese President Won't Back Down on Negotiations with Israel

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JAKARTA - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Friday (10/7) that he would not reverse his decision to continue negotiations with Israel, according to a statement from the presidency.

Aoun made the statement during a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east Beirut, with a delegation from the Lebanese Forces parliamentary bloc led by party leader Samir Geagea.

"Why should the Lebanese people continue to pay the price for wars instigated at the behest of external actors and for their interests?", Aoun asked.

"I guarantee that I will not back down from the decision to negotiate that I have taken," Aoun said.

"I also stressed that all my positions include explaining to the Lebanese people the importance of the path we are on and Lebanon's commitment to its sovereignty in every step we take," he said again.

Aoun said criticism of direct negotiations with Israel "is not worth responding to," noting that Lebanon has negotiated directly with Israel more than once, starting in 1949.

He said the proposed framework agreement would restore Lebanon's rights "through diplomatic channels" if Israel complied with its provisions and the agreement was successfully implemented.

"All the criticism targeting this track comes from the desire to return the Lebanese issue to a card in Iran's hands," he added.

The negotiating track has drawn criticism from Hezbollah and other Lebanese political forces, who argue that the proposed framework agreement primarily serves Israel's interests and that any negotiations with Israel must remain indirect.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, Wednesday (8/7), said the agreement was "entirely in Israel's interest" and urged Aoun to adopt indirect negotiations.

On Tuesday (7/7), Druze leader Walid Jumblatt described the framework agreement as "a unilateral agreement imposed by Israel," adding that peace with Israel "is impossible."

Lebanon and Israel signed a US-sponsored framework agreement on June 26, which governs the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from all Lebanese territory, starting with two unspecified pilot zones.