The President of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, has stressed this Monday the urgency of increasing pressure on Israel with the aim of withdrawing its military forces from the south of the country, considering that this is the only way to achieve "a just and lasting peace".
Along these lines, Aoun has argued that the Lebanese army must redeploy to the border with Israel, since, as he has emphasized, "because the prolongation of the occupation diminishes the legitimacy of the State" and blocks the return of displaced persons to their places of origin, according to a statement released by the Lebanese Presidency.
The president has also warned that Israel's "intransigence" and its presence in southern Lebanon "does not help the objectives of the United States and Lebanon for the reestablishment of sovereignty, independence and institutional strengthening" of the country.
Therefore, he has specifically asked the US administration to increase its involvement and exert more pressure to force the Israeli withdrawal, considering it "key to any real, tangible and realistic progress on the path to peace".
Aoun has delivered these messages during a telematic meeting with members of the United States' Task Force for Lebanon, a group that brings together prominent figures of Lebanese origin in the North American country. In this meeting, the president has defended the controversial agreement reached with Israel that allows the presence of Israeli troops in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah ceases to represent a threat.
"Negotiation was the only option left after the war failed to achieve its stated objectives," the head of the Lebanese state has maintained to justify said pact.
The understanding has been harshly questioned by the Shiite party-militia Hezbollah, while Aoun has stressed that "civil war has no place" in Lebanon, "despite the attempts by some to revive the conflict."
"We have all suffered the tragedies of the civil war and its consequences in all sectors of Lebanese society, something that religious and political leaders who work to prevent it also understand," he added, expressly citing the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri.