The current cease-fire does not satisfy official Lebanon, says Ghassan Salameh

In an interview with Al-Mayadeen on Monday, Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh said that the official Lebanese position was to move from the current situation to a real cease-fire with Israel.

"We are not satisfied with the current cease-fire as it is being implemented, because it represents less than half of a cease-fire," the minister said, just days before the first direct negotiations in Washington between governmental delegations from Beirut and Tel Aviv, under U.S auspices.

He added that the goal of these negotiations is to achieve "an end to the state of hostility," stressing that a security agreement or what is called a "peace agreement" is not on the agenda.

The minister also said during the interview that "Israel wants to assert its security needs as it perceives them, and considers these needs are met by deterring the resistance [Hezbollah] in Lebanon, as well as obtaining total aerial control over Lebanese airspace and territorial waters."