Aoun: Hezbollah won't be disarmed by force, normalization not on the table

President Joseph Aoun has announced that Hezbollah’s arms will not be removed by force and that normalization with Israel is not currently on the table.

In an interview with France 24 on the eve of his visit to Paris, Aoun noted that “there are no guarantees for halting the Israeli violations” and that “our experience with Israel as to the latest agreement has not been encouraging.”

As for the state’s monopolization of arms in Lebanon and the removal of Hezbollah’s arms, Aoun said that “priority is for the South” and that “the Lebanese Army is performing its duty there.”

“Hezbollah is cooperative in the South. As for the next stage, it will be subject to the consensus of the Lebanese and the national security strategy after a domestic dialogue, because what’s essential is the unity of the Lebanese,” the president added, ruling out any domestic military confrontation aimed at disarming Hezbollah.

As for the best means to confront Israel, Aoun said “the diplomatic option is the only choice to implement the agreement and secure Israel’s withdrawal from the points it is occupying,” hoping the security situation “will remain under control and will not deteriorate.”

As for the U.S. calls for direct negotiations with Israel, the president said: “Any negotiations over normalization are not currently on the table and in Lebanon we will remain linked to the (2002) Arab Peace Initiative regarding this issue.”

“We will await the circumstances as to any future agreement with Israel,” he added.