(Adnkronos) – Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib is ”confident” about an imminent agreement with Israel. ”We need a ceasefire” and ”it is very important that France acts as guarantor. We would also like Italy or Spain,” explains the head of Beirut’s diplomacy in an interview with Il Corriere della Sera. ”Although Italy is close to Israel, it is still on Lebanon’s side,” Habib stressed, adding the ”condemnation of the attacks on the Blue Helmets wherever they come from. We want the agreement because the Lebanese want peace, 90 percent of them want it”.
Expressing some reservations about the promises of the Israeli prime minister, ”you never know with Netanyahu. Just look at what happened to Gaza. There were many yeses and then finally came the no,” the Lebanese minister explains that ”a committee composed of Lebanon, Israel, UNIFIL, the United States and France has been created to ensure compliance with the agreement.” In terms of security, ”we already have 4,500-5,000 soldiers on the ground. We will send another 5,000 to the South and when we have 10,000 we will work with UNIFIL to make sure there are no more Hezbollah men in the area.” On the issues of the agreement, Habib said Netanyahu will want to ”give Trump a gift” and ”wants to give him all the credit for the agreement.” And the president-elect ”will be in the White House within 60 days.”
In Italy to participate in the G7 and the Med Dialogues, the Lebanese Foreign Minister told La Repubblica that as a ”condition” for the ceasefire, ”the Israelis must also respect the resolution, because they have always violated our borders, by air, land and sea. There will be 60 days for the complete withdrawal.” Instead, the fact that the Israelis want to hit Hezbollah even after the ceasefire is considered ”unacceptable.” ”It’s not in the deal. No unilateral interventions,” said the minister, convinced that UNIFIL’s rules of engagement will not be changed, ”maybe there will be a few more soldiers.”
Meanwhile, the Lebanese armed forces ”need weapons, ammunition: we have been promised that they will arrive. The international community has offered its help.” To avoid new tensions in the future, ”we would very much like Israel to negotiate with us on the entire border during these 60 days,” explained the head of Lebanese diplomacy. Furthermore, ”if Israel withdraws from all our territories there will be no more reason for Hezbollah to continue to be an armed party.”
