Aoun and Salam call for Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, Berri for strengthening civil peace

BEIRUT — Speaking on the anniversary of the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon, May 25, 2000, President Joseph Aoun on Monday defended his decision to negotiate with Israel and said that the demand for a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon remains "non-negotiable," as talks between the two countries are set to resume this week in Washington.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, for his part, said that Lebanon will not truly be able to celebrate this day until the Israeli army once again withdraw from south Lebanon, which it has reoccupied, while Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called for strengthening civil peace.

Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah resumed on March 2, following the conflict involving the United States and Israel against Iran. Israel has since intensified strikes on southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. The death toll has surpassed 3,100, with damages estimated in the tens of billions of dollars.

Joseph Aoun was the first to issue a statement: "On this day in 2000, the South wrote an unprecedented epic when the Israeli occupation withdrew following the resilience and sacrifices of the people of this land. May 25 thus became a day of shared national dignity," the president said, according to a statement posted on the presidency’s X account.

"But this year, the anniversary of liberation comes as Lebanon is weighed down by a painful reality: Israeli aggression has not ceased, and precious localities in the South are still suffering under renewed occupation, in flagrant violation of all international resolutions, particularly Resolution 1701 [which ended the 2006 war but was never implemented]," he added. "Lebanon will not accept this reality and will not resign itself to it."

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"Lebanon will not accept this reality and will not resign itself to it. The path to a complete Israeli withdrawal will remain a constant and non-negotiable national demand, which the Lebanese state strives to achieve through dialogue. This will be neither a concession nor a capitulation, but rather an affirmation of Lebanon’s exclusive right to protect its territory and sovereignty and to exercise its authority through its army and legitimate security forces, with the support of a people united around their state, which has made historic decisions in this regard expressing an essential national will to restore full sovereignty," Aoun added, assuring that "the army will remain the sole guarantor of national security and territorial integrity."

These remarks were widely seen as a message directed at Hezbollah and its secretary general Naim Qassem, who on Sunday rejected any scenario in which the militia-party would hand over its heavy weaponry to the Lebanese Army as the government has ordered.

"Those who liberated the South with their blood, both military and resistance fighters, as well as all Lebanese, deserve a strong state cohesive in the legitimacy of its civil and military institutions, and fair in its laws without discrimination, unified by the will of its people and their solidarity," Aoun said.

"The greatest tribute to the memory of liberation is to build a state that is a refuge for all Lebanese, where sovereignty is a trust given to every citizen, because Lebanon belongs to all of us, and the liberation of the South is a duty the state assumes with the support of its children, for it ultimately remains a choice without alternative," he concluded.

In a brief statement on his X account, Nawaf Salam said “Let’s make this year’s occasion of ‘Resistance and Liberation Day’ a day of solidarity with the families of martyrs, the wounded, the prisoners and the displaced, as well as with our resilient people in the South and the frontline villages. As for the celebration, we will only regain it on the day of Israel’s complete withdrawal from our land and the return of our residents to it in safety and dignity."

Finally, Nabih Berri stressed that “Resistance and Liberation Day” comes just before Eid al-Adha and just after the Vatican’s announcement recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of Patriarch Hoyek, and called on Lebanese to make this occasion a step toward inspiration for coexistence and unity, to free themselves from hate speech, to stop “dancing on blood,” not to reopen wounds, and above all to be ready for sacrifice and steadfastness in defending the land, sovereignty and borders.

Lebanon and Israel, which have no diplomatic relations, began negotiations in April under U.S. auspices. A new session is scheduled for June 2 and 3 in Washington, preceded by a meeting of military representatives from both countries at the Pentagon on May 29.

Despite the cease-fire in place since April 17, the Israeli army bombards Lebanon daily, accusing Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire. The Shiite movement, for its part, claims daily operations against Israeli soldiers occupying Lebanese territory. A new session is scheduled in Washington on June 2–3, preceded by a meeting of military representatives of both countries at the Pentagon on May 29.