Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called on Israel to withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory during his address to the UN General Assembly on Friday, citing the country’s internationally recognized borders.
Salam said Lebanon’s objective in US-mediated talks with Israel, which produced a framework agreement in June, is ultimately to secure an Israeli withdrawal, the release of Lebanese detainees and the return of residents to their homes.
"We want Israel to withdraw from all Lebanese territory up to our internationally recognized borders, in accordance with the 1949 General Armistice Agreement. We want the release of our detainees, the safe return of our people to their villages and towns, and the reconstruction of what the war destroyed," he stated.
He said Lebanon entered the negotiations with the aim of ending the conflict and restoring what he described as the country’s full sovereignty, including exclusive state control over weapons.
"It was in that spirit that Lebanon entered negotiations with Israel to reach arrangements that would end the war and restore Lebanon’s full sovereignty. This requires Israel’s withdrawal and the extension of the Lebanese state’s authority over all its territory, with weapons held by the state alone," added the Lebanese premier.
Salam also emphasized that negotiations with Israel must be conducted by Lebanon’s government.
He stressed that “No one speaks on our behalf, and no one negotiates on our behalf, except the Lebanese state through its constitutional institutions."
Turning to the wider Middle East, Salam argued that regional stability depends on Palestinian Arab rights and criticized efforts to weaken UNRWA, the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees" which has come under scrutiny due to its employees’ heavy involvement with Hamas, including during the October 7 massacre.
“There can be no lasting stability in Lebanon without lasting stability in our region, and there can be no stability in the region as long as this organisation remains unable to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination, like all other peoples of the world," Salam said. “No less and no more."
“I must stress here that cutting off funding to UNRWA or undermining its mandate does not end the rights of Palestinian refugees," he said.
The Lebanese prime minister also urged greater restraint in the use of the UN Security Council veto, particularly “in cases of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and serious violations of international humanitarian law".
Under the framework reached in June through US mediation, Israel is to gradually pull its forces out of Lebanon in exchange for the complete disarmament of Hezbollah. The agreement also provides for the Lebanese Armed Forces to enter designated "pilot zones" once Israeli troops withdraw from those areas.
Washington has since facilitated additional rounds of Israeli-Lebanese talks. At one meeting in Rome, the two sides discussed which countries could join an oversight mechanism tasked with monitoring the Lebanese army’s deployment in the designated zones and overseeing efforts to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure and weapons.
Hezbollah did not participate in the framework negotiations and continues to reject direct talks with Israel. The group has also refused to surrender its weapons and has repeatedly violated the ceasefire.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Sukkot in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)