President Aoun launches new initiative to halt war as Lebanon and Israel begin direct talks
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President Joseph Aoun participated in a virtual meeting via Zoom, explaining Lebanon’s situation in light of Israeli attacks, at the invitation of European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
He said: "I am speaking to you now while more than 600,000 of my people are displaced and homeless. Some are on the streets, without shelter and without even the most basic necessities of life. More than 400 of my fellow citizens have fallen in just a few days, including 83 children and 42 women, in addition to over 11,000 wounded, all within only a few days."
He continued: "The direct cause of this situation is that there is an attempt to trap my country between an aggressor that shows no respect for the laws of war or international law, especially humanitarian law, and an armed group outside the state in Lebanon that gives no consideration to Lebanon’s interests or the lives of its people. Moreover, what happened on the early morning of Monday, March 2, with the launch of a few missiles from Lebanon toward Israel, was a nearly transparent trap aimed at Lebanon, the Lebanese state, and the Lebanese people. This conclusion comes from the following logical and rational questions: Did these limited missiles, six in number and ineffective, play a decisive role in the ongoing confrontation between the Iranian regime and Israel, or between Israel and Lebanon? Certainly not. Did they act as a deterrent to prevent Israel from retaliating against Lebanon and its people? Absolutely not. On the contrary. Did they achieve, even on an emotional level, a convincing revenge for the assassination of Supreme Leader Khamenei? Definitely not."
He added: "We believe that what happened was a trap set for Lebanon and the Lebanese armed forces. Some wanted these missiles to lure the Israeli army into penetrating Lebanon, to invade certain areas, and possibly even to occupy them. The goal was to trap Lebanon between two choices: either engage in a direct confrontation with an Israeli aggressor that operates without any legal or humanitarian constraints, which would turn Lebanon into a second Gaza and leave two million or more Lebanese displaced, homeless, and perhaps eventually without a homeland—effectively causing the Lebanese state to fall from the outside; or withdraw from that confrontation, allowing the armed group itself, under a populist campaign with a false claim, to portray the state as incapable of protecting its people. In this way, it could justify its weapons outside state control and against the consensus of the Lebanese people as legitimate and necessary, effectively undermining the Lebanese state from within."
Aoun also pointed out that "those who launched these missiles wanted to buy the fall of the Lebanese state under aggression and chaos, even at the cost of destroying dozens of our villages and causing tens of thousands of our people to fall, all for the calculations of the Iranian regime. This is something we have so far prevented, and we will continue to work to stop and frustrate it."
He continued: "For months, we have proposed an initiative based on gradually removing the pretexts of both sides: the Israeli government would withdraw from at least one point of our occupied land, and in return, we would take full control of it. Then the international sponsors would verify the accuracy of what we have accomplished. We would then move to the next point, continuing step by step until we achieve full control over all our land. We would then negotiate with the Israeli government a final agreement to end hostilities and establish permanent arrangements for security and stability along our borders. This would be a step toward complete peace, in accordance with international and UN resolutions. Unfortunately, this initiative has not been met with any response. Today, we face a more advanced and dangerous situation. In response to the new escalation, the Lebanese government, on March 2, took a clear and irreversible decision to ban any military or security activity by Hezbollah. This is something we want to implement clearly and decisively."
He called on "the whole world to help us support and implement a new initiative, based on the following points:
A – Establish a complete ceasefire, halting all Israeli ground, air, and naval attacks on Lebanon.
B – Quickly provide the necessary logistical support to the Lebanese armed forces.
C – These forces should immediately take control of the recent flashpoint areas, confiscate all weapons there, and disarm Hezbollah along with its stockpiles and warehouses, based on the available information and intelligence.
D – Simultaneously, Lebanon and Israel should begin direct negotiations under international sponsorship to implement all of the above measures in detail."
Aoun concluded: "Lebanon reiterates its full solidarity and unwavering support for all brotherly Arab countries that have been targeted in a cowardly and condemnable way by the Iranian regime: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq, and Jordan. Likewise, we extend this to all friendly countries, from Azerbaijan and Turkey to our friendly neighbor Cyprus, whose supportive stance and understanding of the situation we greatly appreciate."