Lebanon's Joseph Aoun vows Israeli withdrawal in south

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun pledged to seek Israeli withdrawal and reconstruction during an unannounced visit to southern Lebanon on Saturday, after Israel captured and blew up a nearby Hezbollah position.

Official Lebanese media said Aoun arrived in Nabatieh with security officials, including army chief Rodolphe Haykal. The visit was his first to the south since the war between Israel and Hezbollah began.

“We stand by your side, and we are looking into how to provide all the necessary services so that you can remain here safely,” Aoun said, according to the presidency. He also said “the withdrawal of Israel, the return of prisoners and displaced people, as well as reconstruction” were national commitments for the Lebanese state.

Aoun praised staff at Nabatieh Governmental Hospital for providing medical services in an area most people have fled. Many government buildings and major sites in the city have been destroyed since fighting broke out between Israel and Hezbollah in March.

The visit came a day after a senior US diplomatic official said a new round of US-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon, initially scheduled for next week, had been pushed back to October.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah had eased between late June and last week under a US-sponsored framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon and a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran in the wider Middle East war. The Israeli army has stepped up attacks again in recent days, particularly in the Nabatieh region.

On Thursday, Israel blew up underground Hezbollah fortifications on the Ali al-Taher ridge after seizing the site, a few kilometres from Nabatieh city. The explosion was large enough to trigger a tremor detected by seismic monitoring agencies. Israeli strikes in the area have killed at least 29 people in the last few days, including 12 members of the same family.

The framework agreement involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as pilot zones. After Nabatieh, Aoun travelled to Zawtar al-Gharbiya, one of the pilot zones, where the presidency said he inspected Lebanese army units and observed nearby Israeli military positions.