UN Security Council Delegation Meets Lebanon’s President, Tours South As Israeli Strikes Intensify

UN Delegation Visits Beirut Amid Escalating Violence In South

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met a visiting United Nations Security Council (UNSC) delegation to discuss rising tensions with Israel and efforts to disarm Hezbollah, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported. The meeting came a day after a fresh wave of Israeli raids struck southern Lebanon.

Speaking to the UNSC team, Aoun urged council members to press Israel to honour the November 2024 ceasefire — which he said has been violated almost daily — and to withdraw from areas in southern Lebanon that Israeli forces continue to occupy. “We look forward to pressure from your side,” he told the delegation, according to the NNA.

“We look forward to pressure from your side.” — President Joseph Aoun, as quoted by NNA

The delegation also met Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and planned a tour of southern Lebanon to assess the situation on the ground. Aoun said the visit would give the UNSC a clearer picture as the Lebanese army advances a plan to dismantle Hezbollah’s weapons.

The visit coincides with tentative diplomatic engagement between Lebanon and Israel that has drawn sharp criticism from Hezbollah. Civilian representatives from the two countries held their first direct talks in decades this week — a move Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem condemned as a “free concession” to Israel, which Lebanon remains technically at war with.

Qassem, speaking to the pro‑Hezbollah Al‑Akhbar newspaper, said the civilian talks ran counter to the Lebanese government’s policy and risked undermining state sovereignty. He described Israel as “expansionist,” accused it of failing to respect last year’s ceasefire with Hezbollah, and said it has carried out “constant” attacks aimed, in his words, at gradually occupying Lebanese territory.

Prime Minister Salam described the recent military committee discussions with Israel — focused on implementing the 2024 truce — as “positive,” while stressing they were not a step toward normalisation.

Despite the diplomatic exchanges, Israeli forces carried out another round of strikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday, hitting four villages. Israel says its operations target Hezbollah infrastructure; the United Nations reports that near‑daily attacks since the November truce have killed more than 300 people in Lebanon, including at least 127 civilians, and damaged homes and critical services.

Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr in Beirut said the strikes underscore that “negotiations will be held under fire, until Hezbollah is fully disarmed.” The Lebanese government has pledged to work toward disarming Hezbollah, but the group rejects disarmament efforts while Israel maintains strikes and occupies positions inside Lebanese territory.

Qassem also vowed a response to the killing last month of Hezbollah’s top military commander, identified in reporting as Haytham Ali Tabatabai, calling the assassination “a blatant aggression and a heinous crime” and saying Hezbollah “has the right to respond” at a time of its choosing.

Aoun’s information minister, Paul Morcos, said the government views negotiations — due to restart on December 19 — as the only realistic path forward. Quoting Aoun, Morcos said: “There is no other option but negotiation. This is the reality, and this is what history has taught us about wars.” Aoun, he added, stressed the need for “the language of negotiation — not the language of war — to prevail,” while insisting Lebanon’s sovereignty would not be compromised.

Background: The November 2024 ceasefire required both Lebanon and Israel to halt offensive actions: Lebanon committed to preventing attacks by armed groups against Israel, and Israel committed to ending offensive military actions. However, Israeli forces continue to occupy at least five positions inside Lebanese territory and have conducted repeated strikes that the UN says have caused significant civilian harm.