President Joseph Aoun, at a joint press conference with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, said that “the mission of our army is decisive in these circumstances because it alone, without a partner either from outside the state or outside Lebanon, must extend the authority of our state over all its territory and borders, and impose its full sovereignty, so that Israeli attacks on our land stop, and Israel withdraws from the positions it occupies inside Lebanon.”

He added, “This must be accompanied by a negotiating track, which we consider the only way to achieve our national goals and Lebanon’s higher interest. Just as Lebanon previously negotiated more than ten times, with the consensus of all its current political forces without exception, most recently between 2020 and 2022, to complete the maritime delimitation between Lebanon and Israel. And last November in particular, to stop the attacks and confine all weapons to the hands of the Lebanese state.”