The Lebanese president rules out any meeting with Netanyahu

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun categorically rejected on Monday the possibility of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating that he would immediately leave the premises if such a situation were to occur.

"There is no truth to reports about a meeting with Netanyahu. I am not considering it and I will not respond to it as long as Israeli attacks on Lebanese citizens and violations of Lebanese territory continue," Joseph Aoun told the Lebanese daily newspaper An-Nahar.

The president added, "If we found ourselves in the same room, I would leave immediately."

Although he has agreed to open talks with Israel as part of the new agreement negotiated under American mediation, Joseph Aoun continues to reject any face-to-face meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, an idea that has been suggested in recent days by U.S. President Donald Trump.

These statements come after the signing of a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon, which notably provides for a gradual withdrawal of the IDF from certain areas in southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah.

The Lebanese president believes that a cessation of hostilities is an indispensable prerequisite for any political progress between the two countries.

This agreement was condemned by Hezbollah, which refuses to lay down its arms. Its secretary general, Naïm Qassem, described the text as a “humiliating agreement” and a “capitulation,” stating that “without Hezbollah, nothing will go through.”

Despite these criticisms, Joseph Aoun continues to defend this agreement, which he presents as the only realistic way to avoid a new war between Israel and Lebanon.