Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji said on Sunday, 20 September 2026, that negotiations were the available path to ending Israel’s military presence in Lebanon and restoring sovereignty over all Lebanese territory. He stressed that the state had regained its freedom of decision and would not allow any party to negotiate on its behalf.
Rajji said Lebanon had succeeded, through negotiations, in halting attacks on Beirut and its suburbs, noting that the negotiating process was long and complex but that the Lebanese authorities were pursuing it until the country’s full sovereignty was restored. He added that the military option had not led to a solution, but had instead destroyed the south and displaced its residents.
Rajji separates placing weapons under state control from negotiations
The foreign minister stressed that the decision to place weapons under state control was a Lebanese demand and was unrelated to negotiations with Israel. He said a normal state could not coexist with armed groups operating outside its legitimate institutions. Rajji rejected warnings that implementing the decision to place weapons under state control could trigger a civil war, saying that this possibility was no longer part of the Lebanese vocabulary.
He accused those who repeatedly raised the prospect of civil war of not wanting the Lebanese state to extend its sovereignty over all its territory. Rajji criticised Hezbollah, saying that the party and its weapons threatened Lebanon’s security and sovereignty. He said the party’s warnings of civil war, in his view, provided further evidence that the decision to place weapons under the control of the state and its military and security institutions was correct.
Beirut seeks international force as alternative to UNIFIL
On the issue of the international presence in southern Lebanon, Rajji said Beirut was seeking to establish an international force operating under the umbrella of the United Nations as an alternative to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL. The efforts come as the Lebanese authorities consider arrangements for the period following the end of the international force’s mission, as well as the role of the Lebanese Army in consolidating the state’s authority in the south.
The Lebanese presidency had announced, following international talks held in Paris in September, that the discussions addressed the situation in southern Lebanon and plans for an international presence after UNIFIL’s mandate ends, along with the Lebanese Army’s needs to enable it to expand its deployment and carry out the tasks required of it.
Lebanon sets framework for relations with Iran
Regarding relations with Iran, Rajji said the Iranian ambassador who had been appointed to Lebanon had breached diplomatic norms. At the same time, he stressed that his country sought to build diplomatic relations with all countries, including Iran, within the official frameworks governing relations between states.
The Lebanese foreign minister also reiterated his country’s condemnation of attacks targeting Saudi Arabia, linking Beirut’s position to restoring Lebanon’s independent decision-making and preventing any internal or external party from speaking or negotiating on behalf of the state. Rajji’s remarks came amid continuing negotiations between Lebanon and Israel under US auspices.
The position presented by Rajji confirms that the Lebanese government continues to distinguish between the tracks of negotiations and placing weapons under state control. It considers negotiations a means of halting attacks and restoring territory and sovereignty, while describing the control of weapons as an internal commitment linked to extending the state’s authority over all its territory.
