President Aoun announces five-point border security plan from Lebanon’s south: What it includes

President Joseph Aoun announced a five-point initiative from southern Lebanon to the world on the anniversary of Independence Day.

Aoun said: “I chose this place and this moment to speak according to my national conscience and my responsibility toward the country and its people, and to declare to the world the following:

First: Reaffirming the Lebanese army’s readiness to take over the occupied points along the southern border, and the Lebanese state's readiness to submit immediately to the ceasefire monitoring committee a clear and defined timetable for the handover.

Second: The Lebanese Armed Forces are prepared to assume control of these points once all violations and attacks cease and once the Israeli army withdraws from all positions.

Third: Tasking the committee with verifying that, in the area south of the Litani River, only the Lebanese Armed Forces exercise authority and control using their own capabilities.

Fourth: The Lebanese state is ready to negotiate—under U.N., U.S. or joint international sponsorship—any agreement that establishes a framework for a permanent end to cross-border attacks.

Fifth: Simultaneously, Lebanon’s brotherly and friendly nations would sponsor this process by setting firm, clear dates for an international mechanism to support the Lebanese army and assist in rebuilding areas damaged by the war. This would help achieve the long-standing national goal of ensuring that all weapons outside the state’s authority are brought under state control across all Lebanese territory.”

President Aoun stressed that “this initiative is now presented to the entire world—to every friend, partner, and sincere ally seeking to help Lebanon and stabilise the border and the region. We are ready and committed to it.”