Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stated that the ongoing war was imposed on Lebanon and was “not our choice."
“We had hoped that those who brought us into this war would act rationally before taking another risk," Salam told al-Hadath/al-Arabiya, in an apparent reference to Hezbollah.
He added that “each of the six rockets launched by Hezbollah on March 2 cost 10,000 displaced Lebanese," underscoring the human toll of the escalation.
Addressing the issue of restricting weapons to the state, Salam said Lebanon has been delayed for many years in achieving this objective. He noted that “the ministerial statement that affirmed the limitation of weapons received Hezbollah’s confidence."
Salam stressed that Hezbollah’s rockets, in addition to causing significant damage, have also threatened the credibility of the government. “We will not back down from the government’s decisions to limit weapons," he said, adding, “Hezbollah’s threats will not intimidate us."
He further emphasized that restricting weapons has become more urgent following the cost of what he described as the “support war."
On negotiations with Israel, Salam said, “We have dropped the concept of a ‘ban on negotiations’ with Israel." He clarified that there is currently no set agenda for talks between the two sides.
He also confirmed that the initiative to negotiate with Israel “remains in place on our part," adding, “We are working to form a unified national delegation to negotiate with Israel."
According to Salam, the objectives of direct negotiations would be achieving a ceasefire and securing Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.
The remarks were made during the interview with al-Hadath/al-Arabiya.