Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, surrounded by soldiers, speaks with residents of the city of Nabatieh in South Lebanon on Saturday, September 12, 2026. (Courtesy of Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Saturday that there were “no new negotiations with Israel at the moment,” in response to a journalist’s question during a visit to Nabatieh, L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the South reported.
Aoun visited the city early Saturday alongside Army Commander Gen. Rodolphe Haykal in a show of “solidarity” with residents after Israeli attacks heavily damaged the city earlier this week.
A few hours earlier, a U.S. State Department official told AFP and Axios that diplomatic talks between Lebanon and Israel that had been scheduled to take place in Rome were postponed until October.
The Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States are still expected to meet in Washington next week to discuss “recent developments and the gradual implementation” of an agreement reached between the two countries in June, the official said on condition of anonymity, according to AFP.
The postponement was attributed to scheduling difficulties. A source familiar with the matter told Axios that Jewish holidays, a Paris conference in support of the Lebanese Armed Forces and preparations for the U.N. General Assembly prevented the main participants from meeting in Rome as planned.
Two days earlier, Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that an eighth round of talks between Lebanon and Israel would take place Tuesday and Wednesday.
The report came shortly before Israeli forces carried out large explosions beneath Ali Taher hill in southern Lebanon, which Israel said destroyed Hezbollah tunnel networks. The blasts triggered a 4.1-magnitude earthquake at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the National Center for Geophysics.
Following the Israeli attacks earlier this week, Aoun condemned “the attacks, the murders of innocent people, children and women.” “The question today is: Does Israel want peace or war? If it wants war, let it say so clearly,” he said. Aoun nevertheless said he remained committed to the diplomatic process, calling it “the best solution for both sides.”
Direct negotiations with Israel had 'reached a dead end', Hezbollah MP says
The comments came as political figures continued to debate the future of Lebanon’s negotiations with Israel. Hezbollah MP Hassan Ezzeddine said Saturday that direct negotiations with Israel had “reached a dead end,” arguing that they had failed to stop Israeli attacks or secure an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.
Speaking in Marwaniyeh (Nabatieh district), Ezzeddine accused the Lebanese authorities of enabling Israel through the framework agreement and said Hezbollah’s continued presence was necessary to protect Lebanon.
He also said Parliament would hold a session Tuesday and Wednesday to question the government about its commitments. Ezzeddine argued that future negotiations involving Iran could help establish “a new equation” to force Israel to withdraw from occupied Lebanese territory. Ezzeddine was speaking at a ceremony honoring two Hezbollah members, Ali Nizar Kawtharani and Saleh Hassan Jaber, who are listed as missing.
For his part, Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil, speaking at a party dinner in Zahle on Friday, said Lebanon was facing “major” military, security and social risks, accusing the government of failing to stop the war or protect Lebanon’s sovereignty.
“Israel strikes and kills every day,” Bassil said, reiterating his support for ending the war through negotiations. “If an agreement secures Lebanon’s rights and protects its interests, we are for the agreement.” But he said the agreement had become “hypocrisy,” arguing that Israel continued to carry out attacks while Lebanon’s rights and sovereignty remained at risk.
Bassil also criticized the government and Hezbollah, saying the authorities had failed to prevent a party from initiating the war and had not succeeded in bringing Lebanese factions together. He said Hezbollah also bore “a major responsibility” after its inability to stop the war, Israeli advances and destruction became apparent, arguing that it should have sought an internal agreement.
“We are angry at Hezbollah, but that does not make us forget that a foreign state is occupying our land,” Bassil said. He accused the government of reaching a security agreement with Israel “to get rid of Hezbollah,” calling this “a crime against the nation,” and said the Free Patriotic Movement would not accept “a guardian or an occupier” for Lebanon.
“We are not with Syria, Israel, Iran or America. We are with Lebanon,” he said.
‘I came here to tell you that I am with you’
Lebanese authorities have gradually increased the security presence in Nabatieh this week, where residents welcomed the deployment.
During Saturday’s visit, Aoun said he had “not abandoned” the city.
“I came here to tell you that I am with you. I have not abandoned you at all. The purpose of my visit with the heads of the security services and the army commander is to tell you that we are by your side,” he said. “We are working to ensure you have all the necessary services so that you can remain here.”
Aoun inspected the government hospital in Nabatieh, praising medical staff for continuing to provide care despite difficult conditions.
“I commend them for their resilience in this hospital despite all the difficulties and trying conditions, and for continuing to provide a minimum level of healthcare coverage,” he said, according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon. “The army is permanently deployed in the South,” Haykal said after leaving the hospital.
Aoun and Haykal also inspected army units deployed in the city. The president later visited the village of Zawtar Gharbieh, in the same region, where he visited a church and inspected army units. On Monday, residents and lawmakers called for Nabatieh to be declared “open to the army and free of Hezbollah weapons” to protect the city from Israeli strikes. Residents of Arab Salim in the Nabatieh district and the city of Sour made similar calls the following day.
Residents of Nabatieh and Sour had issued a similar appeal three months earlier, without success. The army deployed dozens of additional soldiers to Nabatieh on Tuesday to reinforce its presence in the city. The deployment, however, was not intended to begin a disarmament process.
Israeli attacks continue across southern Lebanon
Israeli forces carried out an explosion in the town of Taybeh (Marjayoun district), while an Israeli Merkava tank shelled Qantara in the same district with several rounds, according to our correspondent.
Israeli artillery fire targeted Wadi Zibqine, Mansouri, the outskirts of Mifdoun and Wadi Salouki in the Sour, Nabatieh and Marjayoun districts, respectively, after 10:30 p.m. Friday, according to our correspondent. Israeli forces also fired machine guns toward Hadatha in the Bint Jbeil district.
After midnight, Israeli artillery fire targeted Nabatieh al-Fawqa in the Nabatieh district and Wadi al-Hujair in the Marjayoun district. At around 2 a.m., artillery fire targeted the Dabsha area and Nabatieh al-Fawqa, according to our correspondent.
Israeli warplanes also carried out strikes using several high-explosive missiles on six towns in southern Lebanon on Friday, according to a summary of the day’s attacks. Israeli forces shelled neighborhoods and outskirts of 15 towns and carried out large-scale explosions targeting homes, buildings and infrastructure in three towns. In Mansouri alone, 17 explosions were reported, while explosive bombs were also dropped on one town, according to the summary.
On Saturday morning, Israeli artillery fire targeted Mais al-Jabal in the Marjayoun district, with continuous shelling reported in the town. Israeli forces also shelled the Doueih area and the direction of Kfar Roummane in the Nabatieh district and carried out a third explosion in Mansouri in the Sour district, according to our correspondent.
Israeli military vehicles were also seen moving inside neighborhoods in Qantara in the Marjayoun district, our correspondent reported.
Border municipalities call for humanitarian convoys
The municipalities of Rmeish, Ain Ebel and Debl issued an urgent appeal late Friday for the regular resumption of humanitarian convoys serving the three southern border towns. The municipalities said more than 10,000 residents have faced difficult security, economic, social and health conditions over the past six months, leaving them largely isolated from other parts of Lebanon, their families, workplaces, universities, hospitals and sources of income.
They said four convoys prepared this week were canceled despite the required procedures having been completed, with no clear or unified explanation from the authorities involved.
The municipalities called for a fixed coordination mechanism, advance notification of changes to instructions, simplified travel procedures and increased convoy capacity. They also called on the Lebanese state, religious authorities, foreign governments and embassies, the United Nations and international organizations to intervene.
“The coordination mechanism is supposed to solve the problem, not become part of it,” the municipalities said.
Reporting contributed by our correspondent in the south, Muntasser Abdallah
Israel-Lebanon talks in Rome delayed to October according to US official