Israel-Lebanon normalization not likely as countries are ‘officially at war,’ says Lebanese FM

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said Tuesday that there is no prospect of normalizing relations with Israel at the moment, while also accusing the Iranian regime of meddling in the affairs of his country.

“There is no possibility of correcting the law that prohibits normalization with Israel. We are formally in a state of war,” Raggi said while speaking at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

The Trump administration has been pressuring Beirut and Jerusalem to negotiate over a new security arrangement, but without results so far. However, both countries recently agreed to send civilian representatives to talk directly for the first time in decades.

Over the past days, Israel struck several more Hezbollah operatives who it said were working to rebuild the terror group’s capabilities.

This included strikes in the southern part of the country, where the Lebanese government claims Hezbollah’s presence is close to being ended through the deployment of the state’s military.

A recent strike killed a Hezbollah operative who Israel said also served in the Lebanese Armed Forces’ (LAF) intelligence services.

Raggi stressed that Lebanon wants good relations with all countries, provided they respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and do not interfere in its internal affairs – even including Hezbollah’s patrons in Iran.

However, Raggi continued his recent series of strongly worded condemnations of Iran’s activities in Lebanon, accusing the regime of interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs by arming and financing Hezbollah, which he called an illegal armed organization.

“They run this organization directly. The Iranians are present in Lebanon to sponsor and take care of their organization, which is Hezbollah,” he said, adding, “They deny it, but no one believes them.”

Two weeks ago, Raggi rejected an invitation to visit Iran, while writing on 𝕏 that “Iran’s role is extremely negative, and its policies are among the chief sources of instability in Lebanon and the region.”

On Tuesday, he reiterated that disarming Hezbollah, as the government has instructed its military, is in the security interest of the Lebanese state.

“Hezbollah must be disarmed. They have what they call a political wing – we have no problem with that – but they also have a security and military wing,” Raggi argued.

“We demand the dismantling of the military and security wing, and not only the disarmament of the organization. The Lebanese people are demanding this.”

“They are trying to buy time, hoping for a miracle that will come with a change in the U.S. administration or a change in the region, so that one day they can recover,” he added.