Lebanon’s Aoun refuses talks with Israel’s Netanyahu amid Trump’s peace push
The Lebanese leader said Beirut’s position is that a ceasefire should precede negotiations
Lebanon’s president will not speak to Israel’s prime minister in the near future, Lebanese officials said on Thursday, dealing a blow to US efforts to expand contacts between the enemy states as Pakistan said peace in Lebanon was vital to ending the Iran war.
The US-Israeli war with Iran spilt into Lebanon on March 2, when Iran-backed Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran, prompting an Israeli offensive in Lebanon just 15 months after the last major conflict.
“Peace in Lebanon is essential for [Iran] peace talks,” Tahir Andrabi, spokesperson for Pakistan’s foreign ministry, said. The Israeli security cabinet convened late on Wednesday to discuss a possible ceasefire in Lebanon.
US President Donald Trump said on social media he was seeking to create “a little breathing room” between Israel and Lebanon, adding the two leaders had not spoken for some 34 years and “it will happen tomorrow”, in a post published late on Wednesday in Washington.
But three Lebanese officials said on Thursday that President Joseph Aoun would not hold a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the near future.
Two of the Lebanese officials said the Lebanese embassy in Washington had informed the US administration of the position before a call between Aoun and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday. A brief Lebanese presidency statement said Aoun thanked Rubio for US efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon.