By Maya Gebeily
BEIRUT, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Wednesday that a lasting peace with Israel could pave the way to normalising ties with the country and establishing economic ties but that those milestones remained far off given current tensions.
“Economic (talks) will be a part of normalisation, normalisation will follow peace. It cannot precede peace,” Salam said, when asked about Israel’s statements that it was hoping to build ties and economic cooperation with Lebanon.
“We are far from being there,” he told reporters at his office.
Lebanon and Israel have been enemy states for decades. Israel has invaded Lebanon several times in operations against militant groups, most recently in 2024 after nearly a year of exchanging fire with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Israel still holds positions in southern Lebanon and is carrying out airstrikes against what it says are Hezbollah’s efforts to re-arm and plan new operations against Israel.
Salam said a November 2024 ceasefire deal would have to be fully implemented before further steps were considered, saying Israel would need to withdraw troops and halt strikes and Hezbollah would need to fully disarm.
Hezbollah has rejected giving up its arsenal in full, but Salam said it had agreed to the ceasefire deal which asserts the state’s monopoly on arms.
“Hezbollah must live up to its commitments,” he said.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Gareth Jones)
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