Lebanese Ministry of Information
Information Minister, Attorney Dr. Paul Morcos, reiterated Lebanon’s demands in an interview with BBC News, emphasizing the need to extend and solidify the ceasefire as a crucial step towards achieving Lebanon’s other objectives. “These include the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Lebanese territory, the release of prisoners, and the resolution of outstanding border issues,” Morcos said, adding that “this is coupled with Lebanon’s fundamental demand for a halt to all Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace, territorial waters, and land.”
“The Lebanese government has made important decisions regarding the deployment of the Lebanese army and the monopoly of arms by the state. However, the Israeli occupation and hostile attacks have constituted a major obstacle to the full implementation of these decisions,” Morcos underlined.
He recalled that the Lebanese government took important steps during the past 15 months to restore the state’s authority over all Lebanese territory in stages, but was unable to complete these steps due to the continuation of Israeli attacks and many other factors, including the need to support the Lebanese army and the time necessary to accomplish said steps. “However, the war came to stop these efforts, and Lebanon is now ready to relaunch these essential steps to redeploy the Lebanese army to the borders again, as President General Joseph Aoun said,” Morcos went on.
“The goal is to achieve stability, and this fundamentally requires the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces to enable the Lebanese army to redeploy, which it is prepared to do,” he maintained, adding that the President’s initiative aims to fulfill Lebanon’s commitments based on the interests of the Lebanese state.
In response to a question, Minister Morcos revealed that the martyrdom of journalist Amal Khalil as a result of Israeli attacks has further complicated matters, because journalists are not military targets and should not be targets of Israeli attacks, nor should civilians and medical personnel. He said: “This is a violation of international humanitarian law, especially when we talk about the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the 1977 Additional Protocols, particularly Article 79 of the First Protocol, which not only prohibits targeting journalists but also obligates all parties involved in the war to protect them.”
“What happened is unacceptable and must not be repeated. Lebanon has taken decisions at the government level, the latest of which was the day before yesterday at my request, to complete the file and proceed with all necessary measures and legal complaints before international authorities,” Morcos asserted.
