Aoun made his comments during a speech on the eve of his country’s 82nd independence day [Getty]
Lebanon’s president said Friday a state monopoly on weapons was inevitable, and that Beirut is ready to negotiate with Tel Aviv to end Israeli attacks on his country.
Ensuring state control over weapons and decisions of war and peace is “important and inevitable”, President Joseph Aoun said in a speech on the eve of the country’s Independence Day.
He said Lebanon was ready to entrust the truce supervisory committee, comprising the United States, France, Lebanon, Israel and United Nations peacekeepers, with “making sure that in the south Litani region, only the Lebanese army is exerting its sovereignty by its own means”.
He also said Lebanon was ready to negotiate under US or international sponsorship “any agreement which will put a permanent end to the transborder aggressions”.
Aoun made the speech from southern Lebanon, where Israel still maintains troops in five areas that it deems strategic.
He urged “Lebanon’s friends and brotherly countries, to provide oversight throughout this process by establishing clear and guaranteed timelines, implementing an international mechanism of support to the Lebanese army, as well as assisting in the reconstruction efforts”.
Doing so will help ensure “that all weapons are in the hands of the state, on the entirety of the Lebanese soil”, he added.
In response to a question from reporters on Friday, US President Donald Trump said he plans to invite Aoun to the White House, according to Lebanese media.
Under heavy US pressure and fearing expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon has committed to disarming the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which emerged badly weakened from more than a year of hostilities with Israel that largely ended with a ceasefire last November.
Despite the truce, Israel has kept up frequent strikes on parts of Lebanon, mainly saying it has been targeting Hezbollah, which it accuses of rearming.
Under a government-approved plan, Lebanon’s army is to dismantle Hezbollah military infrastructure south of the Litani river – some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border – by the end of the year, before tackling the rest of the country.
According to the health ministry, more than 330 people have been killed in Lebanon and 945 wounded since the 27 November 2024 ceasefire.
UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz, pointed to “a broader pattern of unlawful killings and violations of the ceasefire agreement by Israel”.
Tidball-Binz is an independent expert mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but who does not speak on behalf of the United Nations.
