Beirut, Lebanon – December 6, 2025 – Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told a visiting United Nations Security Council delegation on Friday that his country has no desire for another war with Israel and that the Lebanese people “have suffered enough.” Speaking at Baabda Palace, the president stressed that Lebanon is fully committed to diplomacy and to the state’s monopoly on weapons, declaring there will be “no going back” on the decision to disarm non-state armed groups, even if the process takes time.
The remarks came one day after the first direct meeting in decades between Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives as part of the U.S.-mediated ceasefire monitoring committee in Naqoura. The inclusion of civilians in the talks – a Lebanese former ambassador and Israel’s National Security Council director – marked a significant diplomatic breakthrough, but also drew sharp criticism from Hezbollah.
In a televised speech hours later, Hezbollah’s secretary-general Sheikh Naim Qassem said the group fully supports Lebanon’s diplomatic efforts and the state’s lead in negotiations, yet described the civilian participation as a “misstep” and a “free concession” to Israel. He warned that such moves will not change Israel’s aggressive posture and insisted that Hezbollah will not disarm while Israeli troops remain on Lebanese soil and airstrikes continue.
The Lebanese army, backed by the United States and several European countries, is implementing a phased plan to dismantle all armed groups outside state control south of the Litani River, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1701. President Aoun told the UN delegation that the first phase is expected to be completed by the end of 2025 and urged the international community to provide the army with logistical and financial support to carry out its mission.
Despite the 60-day ceasefire agreement signed in late November 2024, Israel has maintained ground forces in five strategic hilltop positions in southern Lebanon and has conducted hundreds of airstrikes targeting what it describes as Hezbollah rearmament attempts. The most serious incident since the truce came on November 23, when an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Haytham Ali Tabatabai, and four aides. Hezbollah described the assassination as a “heinous crime” and reserved its right to respond, but has so far refrained from major retaliation.
UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) have repeatedly condemned the ongoing Israeli violations, documenting tank fire near their patrols and warning that the incidents endanger the 10,000-strong force. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key Hezbollah ally, told the UN delegation that “negotiating under daily bombardment is unacceptable” and demanded full Israeli withdrawal as stipulated in Resolution 1701.
The Security Council ambassadors, on a rare regional tour that included Damascus the previous day, are scheduled to visit the southern border on Saturday alongside U.S. Special Envoy Morgan Ortagus. The next round of the Naqoura monitoring committee, again including civilian representatives, is set for later this month.
Lebanon’s economy remains in tatters after more than a year of war, with southern infrastructure damage estimated at $7 billion and tens of thousands of families still displaced. Gulf states and Western donors have conditioned reconstruction aid on visible progress in disarming Hezbollah, adding pressure on the fragile Lebanese government to deliver results.
As the UN delegation prepares to leave Beirut, the message from both the presidency and the streets is the same: the Lebanese people are exhausted by conflict and desperate for lasting peace – but that peace, officials insist, can only come through reciprocal respect for the ceasefire and the full implementation of Resolution 1701 by all parties.
