Lebanese Foreign Minister Joe Rajji during an interview with LBCI channel, on May 21, 2025. (Credit: Lebanese Foreign Affairs Ministry's press office)
Lebanese Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Rajji stated on Wednesday night in a televised interview that he does not have "trust in the loyalty" of Hezbollah in the framework of the dialogue that President Joseph Aoun is supposed to initiate regarding the monopoly of arms, asserting that it is in solving this issue and applying international resolutions that "the solution" to all internal problems in Lebanon lies.
Speaking in an interview on the local channel LBCI about the state's monopoly on arms in Lebanon, a subject almost daily discussed in political circles and by officials since the beginning of Aoun's mandate, who has committed to achieving this objective, Rajji considered that this issue is the heart of "the solution" to resolving internal problems in Lebanon. "The internal Lebanese situation is not linked to the regional situation, as long as the government takes the necessary measures," he declared, emphasizing that "the solution in Lebanon is simple and rests on the principle of monopoly of arms in the hands of the state and applying international resolutions," notably U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1701 and 1559, which among other things, provide for the disarmament of all militias.
No aid without reforms, sovereignty over entire territory
Regarding the disarmament of Hezbollah, he stated that this issue "is still being debated," expressing fear that the authorities "will miss the train because some hope to waste time, and this is not in the interest of Lebanon." "If some refuse for Lebanon to become a normal state, which applies its Constitution and international law, it is Lebanon that will pay the price," he warned. While Aoun has announced a future dialogue with Hezbollah on this matter, rejecting calls from the Lebanese Forces, a party close to Rajji, for a "timeline" of disarmament with a timeframe, the head of diplomacy said he has "confidence in the loyalty of the President of the Republic but doubts the intentions of those with whom he plans to dialogue." Addressing those he described as "non-sovereignists" in Lebanon, he called on them to "return to your homeland, your land, your people, your heritage and your Lebanese identity." "No country, no party, nor any international funds are ready to help Lebanon as long as reforms are not implemented and the sovereignty of the state does not extend over the entire territory," he insisted.
On the question of weapons held by Palestinian factions, and while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, during the first day of his visit to Beirut, marked the decision to disarm refugee camps, Rajji stated that "several decisions have been made, and their execution has begun." As early as December, after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, the Lebanese Army had recovered bases of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, a faction linked to the deposed Syrian regime, and the High Defense Council and the government had issued at the end of April an unprecedented warning to Hamas, urging it to no longer use Lebanon as a platform to launch its attacks against Israel. On Wednesday, Aoun and Abbas said again that the time of weapons outside the monopoly of the Lebanese state was "over." "Lebanon recognizes only one representative of the Palestinian people, namely the Palestinian Authority," added Rajji, alluding to Hamas, which has not yet confirmed its commitment to disarmament and had demanded guarantees concerning Palestinians' rights. He added that "security services and armed forces are doing their work, but not everything can be communicated publicly."
Rajji justifies not filing complaints before UN
In addition, the head of diplomacy affirmed that he had "no objection to conducting indirect negotiations on the unsettled border points" with Israel, while several points and areas along the Blue Line remain contested. "Direct negotiations are not considered," he insisted, a few days after Aoun had already affirmed, in an interview on Egyptian television, to have requested Washington to sponsor indirect negotiations on the land border, akin to what took place for the maritime border in 2022. He further reacted to criticisms from the Hezbollah camp, claiming he is not critical enough of Israeli violations, daily, of the cease-fire concluded in November 2024, and while he has not since entering office filed a complaint to the Security Council in this regard, knowing that his predecessor had filed, during the Israeli offensive against Lebanon from October 2023 to November 2024, dozens of such complaints. "Filing complaints follows specific mechanisms, and abusing them weakens the Lebanese position," he commented.
Rajji further declared that "the Foreign Affairs Ministry has become sovereign again," and stated that he "takes no steps in foreign policy outside the Constitution, the Taef Agreement, international resolutions, the cease-fire agreement, the inaugural speech and the ministerial declaration," claiming that his positions and patriotism "do not require any loyalty test from anyone."
Concerning relations with Syria, Rajji stressed that the issue of disappeared persons in Assad's regime's prisons "is human and urgent," and that "the Syrian government demonstrates cooperation." He added that he had received maps of the Lebanon-Syria border from the French ambassador two weeks ago, and that he had transmitted them to the Defense Ministry. This issue is "technical, complex, and long," he added.
This article was translated from L'Orient-Le Jour.
