Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends the honorary session of the Paraguayan National Congress, in Asuncion, Paraguay, November 24, 2025. (Credit: Cesar Olmedo/Reuters)
BEIRUT — Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Wednesday in an interview with the channel Al Arabiya that Israel's desire is to “achieve peace” and “normalize relations with Lebanon,” as the two neighboring countries began in early December direct negotiations, currently limited to meetings of the cease-fire monitoring committee from November 2024, known as the “mechanism.”
President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have repeatedly reaffirmed that Lebanon remains committed to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which calls, in exchange for normalized relations with Arab countries, for Israel’s withdrawal from all occupied territories, including the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights, and the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
The Israeli foreign minister also stated that “Israel must finish with Hezbollah” to guarantee its security and “return Lebanon to its people,” refusing “to live alongside a terrorist state at its borders.”
According to Saar, his country has only “minor” disputes with Lebanon, which could be easily resolved, adding that “the only real problems are the presence of Hezbollah and Iran” adding " we will not live with a terrorist state on our border." The Israeli minister also considered Hezbollah to be “the party violating Lebanon’s sovereignty.”
Saar’s remarks came while, despite the truce reached in November 2024 that ended the 13-month war between Hezbollah and Israel, the Israeli army continues to occupy six positions in South Lebanon and carries out almost daily strikes there, saying it targets members and infrastructure of Hezbollah.
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