President Joseph Aoun said in an interview with Al-Jazeera on Monday that "the decision to limit weapons to the state has been taken and that its implementation will be done through dialogue, far from any form of recourse to force."

"Messages are being exchanged with Hezbollah to address the issue of the state's arms monopoly," President Aoun said, saying that "Hezbollah is aware of Lebanon's interest and that international and regional circumstances contribute to this."

The president said that "the dialogue on arms exclusivity will be bilateral between the Presidency and Hezbollah," and specified that "the decision to limit arms to the state has been taken and that its implementation will be done through dialogue, far from any form of recourse to force."

"We need a national security strategy that protects Lebanon and from which a defense strategy will flow," he added.

Hezbollah has lost influence and power following its war with Israel in recent months. This loss of momentum has brought the issue of its arsenal back to the forefront of debate. Disarming the party is one of the key measures of Resolution 1701, but it has so far not been implemented. Adopted in 2006 following a previous war between Israel and Hezbollah, this resolution explicitly grants the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese army the authority to operate and maintain peace along the Blue Line, which demarcates the border between the two countries. It also stipulates that Hezbollah must be kept away from the border in exchange for Israel's respect for Lebanese sovereignty. This resolution served as the basis for the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, which came into effect on Nov. 27.

Aoun said that the Lebanese army "is fulfilling its duty and is ready to assume responsibility for border control."

"Pressure must be exerted on Israel to respect its commitments," he stated, stressing that "the army's achievements are significant: tunnels and ammunition depots have been discovered both south and north of the Litani River."

"The army continues to fulfill its mission south of the Litani River, dismantling tunnels and seizing weapons without Hezbollah opposing it," he added.

To date, nearly 529 sites have been identified and dismantled. This figure includes weapons caches as well as existing structures such as rocket launchers and missile ramps, often visible to the naked eye.

The president said that "no one has proposed normalization with Israel, and Lebanon remains committed to the resolutions of the Beirut summit (adoption of the Arab peace initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002) and the Riyadh conference (in February 2025, on an alternative plan to that proposed by Donald Trump for the future of Gaza)."

"We support the formation of a military, civil and technical committee for the delimitation of Lebanon's southern borders, and we are also in favor of a return to the 1949 Armistice Agreement," he stated.

Israel expressed its willingness to normalize relations with Lebanon. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated earlier this month during a meeting in Paris with his French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot, that Israel wanted to "normalize its relations with Lebanon." He also noted ongoing negotiations, although this may seem "premature from a Lebanese perspective."