President, Joseph Aoun, shaking hands with the minister delegate to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, Alice Rufo, in Baabda, on March 31, 2026. (Credit: X/@LBPresidency)
BEIRUT — President, Joseph Aoun, expressed regret, while receiving the French Deputy Minister for the Armed Forces, Alice Rufo, that his appeals and those of the international community to initiate negotiations with Israel had gone unanswered.
Aoun had, from the earliest days of the war between Hezbollah and Israel, launched an initiative for direct talks, which was immediately rejected by the Israeli state and by the Hezbollah- Amal alliance.
In a statement from the presidency, Aoun criticized the fact that "Israel continues to refuse to respond to Lebanese, Arab, and international calls for an end to the war" and to launch negotiations.
These talks would notably aim to "guarantee Lebanese sovereignty across all its territory, especially in the South up to the international borders," while the Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, announced earlier in the day Israel's intention to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani, even after the war.
The objective of these negotiations would also be "to allow the Lebanese army to redeploy and extend the authority of the state through its legitimate military forces," while the Lebanese government banned, on March 2, immediately after Hezbollah entered the war, the military and security activities of the party.
"The war will lead to no tangible result, it will only worsen the suffering of the Lebanese people, while negotiation remains the only solution capable of restoring security and stability in the region," the head of state insisted to Rufo.
He also welcomed the support provided to Lebanon by French President Emmanuel Macron to achieve a cease-fire, and applauded the "willingness expressed by several countries, European or otherwise, to maintain forces in the South after the completion of the withdrawal of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon [UNIFIL] troops by the end of 2027."
He also thanked Paris for sending military equipment to the Lebanese Army, as 39 Véhicules de l’Avant Blindé (armored frontline vehicles), a type of French troop transport vehicle, were received earlier in the day in the presence of the Deputy Minister, at the port of Beirut.
Rufo, who reaffirmed Macron's support for Lebanon and his backing of the initiative for negotiations with Israel, is also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Defense Minister Michel Menassa.
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