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In the wake of Israel and Lebanon’s ceasefire agreement, Lebanon’s Culture Minister Ghassane Salamé told Euronews’ flagship morning show Europe Today that he hopes it will be more “genuine” than the previous one, which he said, “was not even a truce”.
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“The agreement is still fresh, so it’s probably too early to decide how serious it is probably too early to decide how serious it is,” Salamé said. But, he added, it was “not very helpful” that some Israeli cabinet ministers had already rejected the agreement.
Nonetheless, Salamé argued that the new deal was strengthened by the “direct commitment of the negotiator”, namely the United States.
“Without American pressure, we were not expecting the Israeli government to move forward with such an agreement. So it is under sustained American pressure that we can expect real implementation this time,” he said.
The agreement comes amid escalating tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, leaving Lebanon caught between the two leaders.
Salamé also raised concerns about the damage inflicted on Lebanon by Israel’s “incursion” in recent months.
“It has destroyed 60 villages entirely – flattened out – and a number of very important heritage sites have also been hit, including the Chateau de Beaufort, to which Lebanese are very attached.”
The fragile ceasefire depends on the Iran-backed Hezbollah group ending its military attacks and withdrawing its fighters from the area south of the Litani River.
Despite the joint commitment to a ceasefire, Israel reportedly carried out multiple drone strikes in the Nabatieh area of southern Lebanon on Thursday morning.
