Lebanon rejects any normalization of ties with Israel

By Wassim Samih Seifeddine and Betul Yilmaz

BEIRUT/ISTANBUL (AA) – The Lebanese people reject any normalization of relations with Israel, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Wednesday.

“No one in Lebanon wants to normalize ties with Israel,” Salam said during a meeting with a press delegation in Beirut as cited by a government statement.

“Normalization with Israel is rejected by all the Lebanese people,” he added.

Local media reports have emerged about US pressure on Lebanon to reach “an agreement that is less than normalization and more than an armistice” with Israel.

Salam said international and Arab pressure on Israel to stop its assaults in southern Lebanon “has not yet been exhausted.”

“There are still means for political and diplomatic pressure," he added, without elaborating.

The Lebanese premier said that the five border outposts occupied by Israel in southern Lebanon “have no military or security value, but Israel holds them to keep pressure on Lebanon.”

A fragile ceasefire had been in place in Lebanon since November, ending months of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated into a full-scale conflict in September.

Lebanese authorities reported over 1,250 Israeli violations of the ceasefire, including the deaths of 100 people and injuries to more than 330.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by Jan. 26, but the deadline was extended to Feb. 18 after it refused to comply. It still maintains a military presence at five border outposts.