Warning in the South.. Al-Salam: The state will be present with all its capabilities to launch the return and recovery process
President Joseph Aoun resumed his activities at Baabda Palace upon his return from his official visit to the United States, at the invitation of President Donald Trump. The first congratulatory call for his safe return he received was from Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri. Prior to that, he received a message in English from Walid Jumblatt, former president of the Progressive Socialist Party, congratulating him on his recent speech at the Lebanese Embassy in Washington.
In this context, the Maronite League issued a statement praising President Aoun’s visit to the White House, noting it was the first by a Lebanese president in 17 years. The League considered the visit an important milestone in the process of ending the state of war, consolidating sovereignty, supporting the Lebanese Army, and achieving the Israeli withdrawal in accordance with the Framework Agreement, the first translations of which we are witnessing in the town of Zaiter al-Gharbi (Western Zaiter).
The League commended the President’s speech at the Lebanese Embassy for its emphasis on the role of the state and the single army, and for its appreciation of the role of the Lebanese diaspora, particularly in the United States, in supporting the homeland and strengthening its global presence. It hoped that the outcomes of this visit would translate into further international support for Lebanon.
President Aoun’s return coincided with heightened military alert in southern Lebanon, marked by an Israeli force incursion into Sarbineh, preceded by bulldozers and military vehicles, and a large explosion in the town of Tayeri in the Bint Jbeil district. Not a day passes without residents attempting to return to their homes. Their efforts were encouraged by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s visit to Western Zaiter, where he raised the national flag over its soil. Salam held a meeting yesterday attended by the President of the South Council Hashem Haidar, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Relief Commission Major General Bassam al-Nabulsi, and Zahie Shahin, head of the Disaster Management Unit at the Prime Minister’s Office, to discuss practical steps to facilitate their return.
Salam stated at the meeting that his visit to Western Zaiter aimed to reassure the people of the South that the state would not merely reclaim the land, but would return with them and to them: beginning with the deployment of the army and security forces, followed by completing efforts to open roads, clear rubble, and restore basic services, leading to securing the conditions for a dignified return, including temporary and transitional housing, such as prefabricated homes. He affirmed that “the people of the South will not be alone in this phase; state ministries, institutions, and councils are mobilized to accomplish this task, and the state will be present with all its capabilities to launch a process of return and early recovery.”
Regarding meetings, MP Ibrahim Kan’an, head of the Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, said after meeting with President Berri in Ain al-Tineh: “Two issues were on the agenda. The first, which is not absent from anyone’s mind, is the suffering of Lebanese and Southerners due to current events, and the hope for a ceasefire. These are President Joseph Aoun’s objectives in Washington: achieving Israeli withdrawal, consolidating sovereignty, and supporting the Lebanese Army, so that we may reach the stability and end to the massacres occurring that we all desire, which requires our collective cooperation. The second issue is the importance of preserving people’s rights in all legislation. Legislation is for rights, not for anyone’s interests.”
Meanwhile, the issue of a “general amnesty” remains strongly raised by change-oriented MPs. MP Wadhad al-Sadiq discussed it with the Grand Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, who conveyed to al-Sadiq his demand for “a comprehensive general amnesty, which is our ceiling on the issue of general amnesty.” Al-Sadiq said: “We are keen to clarify: there is no trust in the decisions of the military court that sentenced individuals to years prior to the current court. There are video tapes brought by the lawyers of the detainees that prove the innocence of these Islamists in the Aabra events. Who can confirm that the decisions taken by the military court were based on evidence? It should be noted that counter-evidence proving the opposite was not allowed to be presented.”
