ISTANBUL

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun met with a visiting delegation of UN Security Council ambassadors on Friday, urging them to press Israel to enforce the ceasefire and comply with international resolutions, the presidency said.

The delegation expressed support for Lebanon’s stability through the implementation of UN resolutions and conveyed their countries’ readiness to help strengthen the Lebanese army, including its full deployment in southern Lebanon and the principle that arms be held exclusively by the state.

The Lebanese government on Aug. 5 approved a plan — based on a draft proposal presented by US Special Envoy Tom Barrack — to place all weapons, including those held by Hezbollah, under state control and tasked the army with implementing it by the end of 2025.

Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected the move and insists that Israeli forces must fully withdraw from Lebanese territory before any disarmament.

The delegation also welcomed Lebanon’s decision to include a civil official in the Mechanism Committee.

The mechanism was established under the Nov. 27, 2024 ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel and includes Lebanon, France, Israel, the US, and the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Aoun thanked the envoys for their support and reaffirmed Lebanon’s commitment to implementing international resolutions. He called for broader assistance to enable the Lebanese army to complete its mission, noting ongoing cooperation with UNIFIL and coordination through the mechanism framework.

However, Aoun told the delegation that achieving stability requires pressure on Israel to apply a ceasefire and to withdraw, saying Lebanon “looks forward” to international engagement to secure Israeli compliance.

Later, during a meeting with envoys, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed Lebanon’s need for a supportive international force after the end of UNIFIL’s mandate, to fill any vacuum that may result from its withdrawal and to help reinforce stability in the country’s south, according to a statement from his office.

According to the statement, Salam proposed that such a force could operate under the framework of the UN Truce Supervision Organization, or that in terms of its mission and border-monitoring duties, it could be a small-sized force with a role similar to that of the UN Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights.

The delegation members affirmed their countries’ commitment to supporting Lebanon’s stability by ensuring the full implementation of international resolutions, praising the government’s efforts on reform and strengthening state authority, particularly with regard to restricting weapons to state institutions.

Separately, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri warned during his meeting with the delegation that Israel’s continued attacks would lead to a renewal of the war that Tel Aviv fought with Hezbollah for nearly two years.

Berri said: “It is unacceptable to negotiate under fire.”

He affirmed that stability in the south requires “Israel’s commitment to UN Resolution 1701 and to the ceasefire agreement by ending its daily violations and withdrawing behind the international border.”

Berri stressed that “after the intensified meetings of the Quintet Committee formed under the agreement (the mechanism), Israel is obligated and must immediately cease fire and halt its unilateral war on Lebanon.”

During Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi’s meeting with the delegation, he expressed his appreciation for “the UN and the Security Council’s lasting support for Lebanon, and for the role UNIFIL has played and the sacrifices its soldiers have made over the past years.”

He noted that “discussions are currently underway to find a formula for the post-UNIFIL phase.”

He stressed that “the Lebanese government is moving forward with its decision to assert its authority over all its territory, and that it is the only party responsible for defending Lebanon.”

In response to questions from delegation members regarding Hezbollah’s weapons, the foreign minister affirmed that “the government’s decision to keep all weapons under its authority is not aimed at pleasing any external party, but is a Lebanese interest necessary for building the state and enabling it to exercise control over all its territory.”

The representatives began their visit to Lebanon earlier in the day after arriving from Syria, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

On Wednesday, a rare meeting brought together civilian-led Israeli and Lebanese delegations with the ceasefire monitoring mechanism in Naqoura in southern Lebanon.

Former Lebanese ambassador to Washington, Simon Karam, and senior director for foreign policy of Israel's National Security Council, Uri Resnick, attended the meeting chaired by US Special Envoy to Lebanon Morgan Ortagus as civilian participants, according to the US Embassy in Lebanon.

Aoun said civilian-led meetings with Israel will resume on Dec. 19 to advance the implementation of a ceasefire agreement between the two countries.

A ceasefire was reached between Tel Aviv and Beirut last year, after more than a year of attacks against the backdrop of the war in the Gaza Strip. More than 4,000 people were killed and 17,000 injured.

At least 335 people have been killed and 973 others wounded in 1,038 Israeli attacks since the ceasefire agreement came into effect in November 2024, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

The Israeli army was supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon this January under the ceasefire, but instead only partially pulled out and continues to maintain a military presence at five border outposts.