Lebanon has suffered much from its non-sovereignty for decades.
Today was a particularly tough war day on Lebanon as well as Israel.
Indeed, in South Lebanon, there were 17 victims, mostly civilians, despite a so-called ceasefire. Recently, in the last 48 hours, many innocent lives were lost in cruel ways. This included three rescue workers, a Lebanese army soldier with his family, women, children. This mortality statistic may likely include an undetermined number of Hezbollah fighters, even if this is unclear (https://tinyurl.com/3fm6whw5).
As far as Israel is concerned, the day was tough, with the death of one Israeli soldier, along with 15 injured peers, from a drone sent by the Hezbollah across the border to the Northern part of the country (https://tinyurl.com/mr25wstx).
At 4:44 PM Beirut time, the US Embassy in Beirut stated on X that “Lebanon stands at a crossroads. Its people have a historic opportunity to reclaim their country and shape their future as a truly sovereign, independent nation“. The same X message, shared below, continues as follows: “A direct meeting between President Aoun and Prime Minister Netanyahu, facilitated by President Trump, would give Lebanon the chance to secure concrete guarantees on full sovereignty, territorial integrity, secure borders, humanitarian and reconstruction support, and the complete restoration of Lebanese state authority over every inch of its territory—guaranteed by the United States.“
Of note, this American invitation came 12 days after a longer speech by President Joseph Aoun to the Lebanese people, which is partly captured in the L’Orient Le Jour short video below in Arabic, subtitled in French:
“I am ready to assume full responsibility for these choices.
I am ready to go anywhere necessary to liberate my land, protect my people, and save my country.
My mission is unique, clear, and defined: to save this country and its people.
This is what I will accomplish with absolute national, human, and spiritual conviction.
And I know you are with me—in secret and in public, you are with me; in your hearts and in your minds, you are with me.
Because I know the extent of the sacrifices you have made.”
Needless to say that the vast majority of the people of Lebanon, whether “in secret and in public” stand in full solidarity with President Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, another patriotic great man. Indeed, the innocent Lebanese people cannot take wars anymore. They aspire for reason, stability, peace and hopefully finally prosperity.
Not surprisingly, as a real hardcore Islamist entity (i.e., loyal to the Iranian regime), Hezbollah rejects these direct negotiations with Israel. Instead, it wants to hang on to its weapons (https://tinyurl.com/2e6vj3df) while remaining under the wings of its founder and funder.
Related to the above, some unhappy Hezbollah officials covertly threatened these two politicians. They even compared Mr. Aoun to Egyptian President Sadat (https://tinyurl.com/3zrhfdvr). As a reminder, the latter was assassinated on October 6, 1981, by Islamic extremists, following his 1979 peace treaty with Israel (https://tinyurl.com/5ek5kva4). How is this acceptable?
Furthermore, they called them “Zionists”, imagine. In their narrow, unhealthy mind, this means “traitors who would support the statehood of Israel instead of Lebanon”. Does this make any sense, especially that Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam happens to be the judge and diplomat who served as President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) (February 2024- early 2025), leading significant cases against Israel? As for the President of Lebanon, he is the former head of the Lebanese Army. Luckily, without explicitly naming it, the latter reminded Hezbollah that “the real betrayal is dragging the country to war to serve foreign interests” (https://tinyurl.com/mxjn6cws). Cleverly and diplomatically said, bravo.
To come back to the worsening war situation in Lebanon, day after day (despite a so-called ceasefire), Mr. Joseph Aoun stated the following (and thanks to La Presse for reporting): “We must put pressure on Israel to respect international laws and agreements and stop targeting civilians, rescue workers, Civil Defense, and humanitarian organizations” (https://tinyurl.com/3fm6whw5).
May God protect not just Lebanon, but also its political leaders, from imminent danger. May the Lebanese negotiators be wise as well as courageous. One thing is clear: Lebanese people cannot take wars anymore. They are fed up of helplessly seeing their country, time and again, serving as a battleground for regional conflicts. Good luck to the “Land of Cedars” in these highly critical moments of its modern history!
