The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Nawaf Salam, emphasized this Friday, in a meeting with a delegation from the United States, the urgency for the Israeli Army to end its attacks in the south of the country, expand the "pilot" areas planned in the ceasefire agreement, and set a "clear timeline" for its complete withdrawal from Lebanese territory.
According to the details provided by the head of Government's office, Salam met with the U.S. ambassador in Beirut, Michel Issa, and with Joseph Clearyfield, head of the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon (MCG4L), the trilateral commission responsible for overseeing the implementation of the framework ceasefire agreement, to discuss the latest developments on the ground.
The American delegation also held a meeting with the president of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, who also called for increased pressure on Israel to end its military operations and withdraw from the south of the country, according to information released by the NNA agency.
"Israel has not ceased its violations and attacks against Lebanon and the south since November 2014, and these attacks are continuous and systematic, destroying villages, ravaging fields and agricultural land, and setting fire to wooded areas, not to mention the attacks against heritage sites and cultural heritage," lamented Berri during the meeting.
These diplomatic contacts come after the Israeli Army has once again violated the ceasefire in effect since June, with new bombings in several localities in southern Lebanon and demolition operations in other areas of the country throughout this week.
In this context, Salam denounced the "aggressions, incursions, and systematic operations" of Israel, which include the destruction of "homes, residential neighborhoods, infrastructure, government headquarters, and places of worship," something that, in his opinion, "constitutes a serious violation of the principles and norms of International Law and Humanitarian Law."
"To say that villages and localities, with their homes, neighborhoods, government headquarters, public facilities, places of worship, and infrastructure, are entirely 'military facilities' is a statement that does not adhere to any logic and cannot serve as a pretext for their destruction, the displacement of their inhabitants, and the prohibition of their return to them," he said.