Lebanese President Joseph Aoun defended on Thursday negotiations with Israel, saying they were not a betrayal and he would not surrender “a single inch of Lebanon’s territory,” according to the presidency.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the Israeli army would remain “until further notice” in what it describes as “security zones” in Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip.
Lebanon signed last week a US-backed framework agreement with Israel with the aim of securing peace between the two countries — a move that has been met with major protest from Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Negotiations with Israel are not “treason but a diplomatic war without unnecessary bloodshed,” Aoun said on Thursday.
The Lebanese president said that Beirut has decided to engage in talks “to guarantee Israel’s withdrawal from its territory.”
“We will not yield a single inch of Lebanese territory,” Aoun declared.
The framework agreement envisions the Lebanese army gradually establishing its authority over south Lebanon as Hezbollah disarms and Israel withdraws, but does not set a timeline for this.
The process will be detailed in a security annex, the contents of which have not been made public.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on a visit to the so-called “security zone” in south Lebanon on Tuesday, reaffirmed that forces would remain there so long as Hezbollah remained a threat.
