NEW YORK — Lebanese President Michel Aoun, speaking to Al-Monitor Wednesday evening prior to his address before the UN General Assembly today, said that any solution to “the problem of Hezbollah” would have to come as part of a wider solution to the crises plaguing the region.

Aoun, who as head of the Free Patriotic Movement met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in 2006 to agree on defining relations between the two groups and disarming Hezbollah, said that Lebanon cannot ask the latter to disband as long as the country still faces threats. “You cannot say to Hezbollah, ‘We have to dismantle your organization,’ since Israel is provoking Lebanon and it is attacking,” he explained.

The president also spoke about the refugee crisis facing his country, which now hosts upward of 1.5 million displaced Syrians. Aoun said the Lebanese government isn’t getting enough support on this issue, stressing that Lebanon “is paying more than the international community to help the refugees” at a time when it is facing economic and security crises. 

Yet Aoun said international parties should focus on helping Syrians get back to their homes, rather than merely providing support to those displaced. While thousands of such repatriations occurred last month, these transfers have been criticized by international aid groups as failing to ensure returnees’ welfare.