PM Nawaf Salam defends negotiations, says they were Lebanon's best option

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam defended Lebanon’s decision to pursue negotiations, describing the process as the fastest and least costly path toward ending the conflict and easing the burden on the country, particularly South Lebanon.

Speaking during a Cabinet session, Salam said negotiations were not the only option available to Lebanon, but they represented the best course of action under the circumstances.

“The negotiation track we chose is the fastest and least costly road for Lebanon, the Lebanese people, the South and its residents,” Salam said. “Negotiations were not the only available option, but they were the best one.”

He argued that Lebanon could not remain passive in the face of a war it neither chose nor initiated. He said other alternatives included turning to international courts, a process that could take years while destruction continued, or relying solely on the United Nations Security Council, where political deadlock and vetoes could obstruct meaningful action.

Salam praised the remarks made earlier by President Joseph Aoun and acknowledged that the Lebanese negotiating team had encountered what he described as Israeli intransigence throughout the talks.

Addressing security arrangements in South Lebanon, Salam said the requirement that the area south of the Litani River be free of weapons and armed groups was not an externally imposed condition. Rather, he said, it stemmed from commitments Lebanon had already made when it accepted U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 in 2006.

He also stressed that the principle of placing all weapons under the exclusive authority of the state across Lebanese territory was rooted in the provisions of the Taif Agreement and reflected commitments included in the government's ministerial statement.

Salam said Lebanon had missed previous opportunities following the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon in 2000 and the Syrian withdrawal in 2005, warning against repeating the same mistake.

“We must not lose this opportunity as well,” he said. “The consequences of losing it this time could be severe.”

Looking ahead, Salam said the next phase would involve practical measures, beginning with the deployment of the Lebanese Army in designated pilot areas. He emphasized that such a move would not undermine Lebanon’s demand for a complete Israeli withdrawal, but rather help bring that objective closer.

“Every hour that passes without implementation is an hour paid for by the South and its people,” Salam said.