Salam: Restricting Weapons to the State is Essential and We Have Lacked in Achieving it Since the Taif Agreement

SadaNews - Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam affirmed that the road to restoring the state is through completing the Taif Agreement and correcting what has been distorted in practice, and that it is essential to restrict weapons to the state.

During a tour in the Rashaya area, Salam said: "It is imperative to restrict weapons to the state, and we have been lacking in achieving this provision since the Taif Agreement."

He added that "the road to restoring the state is through completing the Taif Agreement and correcting what has been distorted in practice. Among the most important points that have not been achieved in Taif are expanded decentralization and balanced development; without them, there will be no stability in the country."

For his part, Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Qassem, confirmed in a speech today, Sunday, that the party will continue to resist and will confront Israel and will not accept normalization with it, in a statement of the party's stance regarding the American paper and the demand to disarm.

According to the Lebanese "Nashra" site, the paper carried by American envoy Tom Barak contains a comprehensive political project, involving redefining Lebanon's position on the new regional map. It demands the withdrawal of Hezbollah's weapons and all factions before the end of the year, dismantling the party's financial structure by cutting off funding networks from its institutions, alongside radical reforms in relations with Syria, border demarcation, and abandoning the Shebaa Farms, paving the way for ending the conflict with Israel.

According to political sources following the situation, as per "Nashra" site, the paper appears to be an entry point for "peace," but deeply translates the American-Israeli vision to end the era of "resistance," which is how the party also perceives it. The party believes the paper is not a military battle, but it is no less dangerous, and it is well aware that what is happening is not a momentary event but intersects with the transformations taking place in the region, from accelerating normalization to the fragility that has afflicted the "Resistance Axis" after the Israeli war on Iran, despite Tel Aviv's failure to achieve its major strategic goals.

In its approach to the American paper, Hezbollah starts from its full commitment to the ceasefire decision in southern Litani, while holding Israel responsible for the continuation of the occupation and violations. According to sources, it believes that Lebanon's interest will not be served by adopting the American vision but by presenting an alternative that starts from Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories, stopping assassinations and assaults, releasing prisoners, and opening a reconstruction path. It considers that its weapons north of the Litani are essentially within the framework of dialogue with the President of the Republic, which must continue.

In light of this equation, the official Lebanon seeks to present a proposal that keeps the door open for a settlement, without slipping into open confrontation or political surrender.

Sources via "Nashra" talk about a Lebanese tendency to confirm the principle of "step for step," starting from the Israeli side, and demanding tangible guarantees for the enemy's commitment to stopping violations, alongside international commitment to launching an economic path that helps alleviate the financial suffocation on Lebanon.

Source: Agencies