This photo provided by the press office of the Lebanese presidency shows Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno addressing the media after his meeting with the new Lebanese president at the Baabda presidential palace on Jan. 15, 2025. (Credit: AFP/Lebanese presidency)
BEIRUT — Visiting Lebanon on Wednesday, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno emphasized that it was "in everyone's interest, Lebanon's but also Israel's, to allow the Lebanese Army to deploy across the country and pave the way for reconstruction and a better future for the Lebanese people."
He added, "Israel should stop its aggressions against Lebanon, and we are here to help make that happen."
Speaking at a press conference at Baabda's Presidential Palace after meeting President Michel Aoun, Bueno responded to a question from An-Nahar about the prospects of an Israeli withdrawal before the scheduled 60-day truce deadline between Israel and Hezbollah on Jan. 27.
"Resolution 1701 [adopted in 2006 to end the war in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah and central to the new 2024 cease-fire agreement] is concerned, it is binding for all parties, for Israel as well as for Lebanon," he said. "It is in everyone's interest, particularly Israel's, to let the Lebanese Army deploy south of the Litani [River]."
