Ghassan Salame says Lebanon-Israel talks ‘not negotiations,’ Hezbollah disarmament by force ‘illusion’
"The idea that you can disarm just by making two phone calls or two check points here and there is just an illusion," Lebanon's minister of culture, Ghassan Salame, told Al-Monitor.
Lebanese and Israeli officials are due to hold talks in Washington on Tuesday under the auspices of the Trump administration to lay the groundwork for a ceasefire and eventual negotiations. Israeli airstrikes and Hezbollah rocket attacks have intensified over the weekend in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, even as the sides prepare to meet. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that 2,055 people were killed in Israeli attacks since renewed fighting began on March 2, triggered by a Hezbollah attack on Israel in support of Iran. Twelve Israeli soldiers and two civilians have been killed by the Iran-backed Shiite militia group over the same period, Israeli officials say.
Israel says the ceasefire reached between the United States and Iran does not include Lebanon, and it has been pounding towns and villages in southern Lebanon for weeks, leading to mass displacement of civilians who now have no homes left to return to. Many believe Israel’s effective depopulation campaign is aimed at ensuring Hezbollah cannot reconstitute itself. Some argue that Israel intends to occupy southern Lebanon, as it did in 1982.
Lebanon’s prime minister, Nawaf Salam, said over the weekend that efforts to end the conflict and to secure an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon were continuing. However, there are few signs, if any, that Israel intends to end its operations against Hezbollah anytime soon.
An estimated 1.2 million displaced civilians are adding pressure on the country’s already frail finances and infrastructure amid rising popular anger at Israel and Hezbollah alike.
