Lebanon calls for direct talks with Israel, accuses Hezbollah of betraying country

In a remarkable statement Monday afternoon, Lebanon called for direct talks with Israel on “permanent arrangements for security and stability on our borders,” while accusing the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah of betraying the country.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun detailed his plan during a virtual meeting with European Union officials, in which he leveled sharp criticism at Hezbollah and Israel for what he called “an attempt to corner my country.” He accused Israel of showing “no respect for the laws of war, nor for international laws.” Israel’s assault on Lebanon has displaced more than 600,000 people and killed more than 400, including scores of women and children, Aoun said.

But it is his criticism of Hezbollah that is significant. Calling the Shiite Muslim group “an armed faction … that places no value on Lebanon’s interest nor on the life of its people,” Aoun said Hezbollah “wanted to achieve the fall of the State of Lebanon, under aggression and chaos.” He accused the group of working “for the sake of the calculations of the Iranian regime.”

“After Hezbollah’s decision to enter the regional fight around Iran — a decision that put the Lebanese government in deep embarrassment — the main worry of Beirut’s authorities has become to clearly delink themselves from Hezbollah’s actions, mainly in order to spare the entire country the deadly costs of an all-out Israeli reprisal,” said Joseph Bahout, director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut.