Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam issued an urgent appeal on March 19 to U.S. President Donald Trump to stop Israel’s ground invasion into his country. He told CNN that he sought a ceasefire “yesterday, not tomorrow,” as Israel’s assault has killed more than 1,000 people, including more than 100 children. His message to Trump is to “help put an end to the Lebanese conflict. I would like to reaffirm to President Trump our readiness to enter into immediate negotiations…. So we call on a greater engagement of the U.S. I mean direct contact. We are ready for negotiations with Israel…. We have been for two weeks extending our hands to have direct talks with the Israelis. So far, we haven’t received an agenda from the Israelis.”
On Israel’s ground invasion this week, said Salam: “We cannot accept any buffer zone, security zone, any infringement on our sovereignty. We cannot negotiate any form of treaty, deal or arrangement with Israel [before our] sovereignty is fully restored.”
Regarding the fact that 1 million Lebanese are displaced by Israel’s evacuation orders, Salam declared: “That’s almost 20%, if not 25%, of the Lebanese population. These people are also the victims of the war. This war has been imposed on us. We didn’t seek it, we didn’t choose it, and now our main objective is how to end it. Lebanon is turned into a battlefield of the war between Israel and Iran.”
