Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Friday that a US proposal for ending hostilities with Israel includes a "full Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territories" and for all weapons to be "exclusively in the hands of the state." His comments came as the deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, rejected any notion of disarming the powerful group in exchange for Israeli withdrawals. Salam told Lebanon's Al-Jadeed TV that the paper presented by US envoy Tom Barak, who is expected in Beirut next week, was based on the "fundamental idea" of linking a full Israeli withdrawal with the Lebanese state extending its authority over all its territory and having a monopoly on arms. "We are afraid of escalation," Salam said, adding that "engaging with Barak's paper, while improving it, is the way to avoid sliding into new confrontations." "What is required is to hand over the weapons to the Lebanese state instead of Israel bombing them," the prime minister stressed. "This stage requires the logic of the state to prevail, not the logic of militias." A six-member committee representing Lebanon's three top leaders (the president, prime minister, and parliament speaker) has begun studying US observations on a response that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had previously provided to Barak. In response to the US initiative, Hezbollah's Naim Qassem said in a televised speech on Thursday that the proposed agreement "absolves Israel of everything it has committed during the period of aggression." He said the texts of the proposal meet US demands, especially regarding "the disarmament of the party in exchange for some partial withdrawals at different times." He questioned what the consequences would be for Israel if it violated the agreement, suggesting they would only amount to condemnations at the U.N. Security Council. "Disarming Hezbollah is an Israeli demand, and the aggression continues because they want to take down this weapon," Qassem said, calling Israel an "expansionist state" and describing Hezbollah's arms as an obstacle to that expansion. He warned that calls to disarm the group "serve Israel" and risk sparking "internal strife, even a civil war." He added that Hezbollah "will not give up its weapons." However, sources close to the matter indicate that Lebanon's initial response had stressed confining weapons to the state's hands but did not provide a timeline. This prompted the United States to demand in its observations a commitment to a phased timetable with "specific dates and a clear implementation mechanism." The sources added that Lebanon wants guarantees from Israel, including a withdrawal from occupied territories, the release of prisoners, and a halt to ceasefire violations, in exchange for its commitment to disarm. The US is also seeking guarantees from Lebanon that Hezbollah will abide by any agreement and hand over its weapons, the sources said, adding that these mutual guarantees appear to be the biggest obstacle so far.
