Report: Aoun, Salam pressing for withdrawal from new pilot zone
President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam “have begun admitting in their private circles and to close associates that the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations have failed to stop the aggression and end the Israeli occupation,” al-Binaa newspaper reported on Tuesday.
They are trying to convince the United States and Saudi Arabia to pressure Israel into securing a withdrawal from a single pilot zone to “avoid embarrassment,” the daily said.
“Aoun and Salam also complained about American and international disregard for the Lebanese file. However, the U.S.–Saudi response was clear: the government of Israel will not make any concessions prior to the (Israeli) elections, especially given Hezbollah's clinging to its weapons and the inability of the Lebanese state to do anything in the arms file,” the newspaper added.
A high-level Saudi envoy will meanwhile visit Lebanon in the next two weeks carrying a message for the country, al-Binaa said.
“The visit aims to update the Lebanese state on new regional developments following the Yemen–Saudi war and to outline Saudi Arabia's stance on Lebanon amid the Israeli escalation, the failed negotiations, the severe political division, and the government's instability,” the daily added.
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