He said the Lebanese government had \u201creclaimed Lebanon and Lebanon\u2019s decision-making power for the first time\u201d in nearly half a century.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, we negotiate for ourselves\u2026 we are no longer a pawn in anyone\u2019s game, nor an arena for anyone\u2019s wars, and we never will be again,\u201d he said, adding that he was prepared to \u201cbear full responsibility for these choices, and I am ready to go wherever necessary to liberate my land, protect my people, and save my country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t Since Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam were sworn in last year, Beirut took several unprecedented decisions against Hezbollah, including a commitment to disarm the group in August after a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end its previous conflict with Israel.<\/p>\n It also banned the terrorist group\u2019s military activities after the start of the most recent war last month.<\/p>\n Hezbollah is the only organization to have kept its weapons after the 1975-1990 civil war citing \u201cresistance\u201d against Israel, despite the latter\u2019s withdrawal from the country in 2000.<\/p>\n In a country mired by sectarian and political divisions, the Shia group\u2019s arms have repeatedly caused internal crises.<\/p>\n \u2018Not a concession\u2019<\/p>\n The president thanked \u201call those who contributed to achieving the ceasefire,\u201d including Saudi Arabia and Trump, who announced the truce on Thursday.<\/p>\n Trump later said he expected Aoun and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the White House \u201cover the next four or five days.\u201d<\/p>\n The ceasefire came days after Lebanon and Israel\u2019s ambassadors to the US held a meeting in Washington, the first direct meeting between the two countries in decades, as they have technically been at war since 1948.<\/p>\n Negotiations with Israel is a divisive topic in Lebanon, with some seeing it as a way to end decades of recurring conflicts, while others including Hezbollah and its supporters reject it.<\/p>\n Direct talks with Israel were \u201cnot a sign of weakness nor a concession\u2026 negotiations do not mean, and will never mean, giving up any right, conceding any principle, or compromising the sovereignty of this nation,\u201d Aoun added in his speech.<\/p>\n On May 17, 1983, Lebanon and Israel signed an agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon after four-and-a-half months of direct talks with US participation.<\/p>\n The deal was scrapped less than a year later, in March 1984, under pressure from Syria and its allies in Lebanon.<\/p>\n After the 2024 war, Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives met within the framework of a ceasefire monitoring committee.<\/p>\n The two sides also concluded an agreement in 2022 to demarcate their maritime border, brokered by Washington without direct communication.<\/p>\n \u201cI hereby affirm\u2026 that there will be no agreement that infringes upon our national rights,\u201d Aoun said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal is clear: to stop the Israeli aggression against our land and our people, to achieve Israeli withdrawal, to extend the authority of the state over all its territory by its own forces exclusively, and to ensure the return of the prisoners and the return of our people to their homes and villages,\u201d he further said, in his only direct mention of Israel during the speech.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tHezbollah supporters carry the Iran-backed terror group\u2019s flag as they ride a motorcycle past destruction upon their return to their neighborhood in Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs, after a 10-day ceasefire with Israel came into effect, April 17, 2026. (Fadel Itani\/AFP)<\/p>\n
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