A handout photograph released by the Lebanese presidency's press office shows Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (L) speaking with Slovenia's UN Ambassador Samuel Zbogar (R) during a meeting with a United Nations Security Council delegation at the Presidential Palace of Baabda, east of Beirut, on December 5, 2025. AFP
According to a statement from the Lebanese presidency on X , President Aoun reaffirmed Lebanon’s “commitment to implementing international resolutions,” noting, “We need pressure on the Israeli side to enforce the ceasefire and withdraw. We look forward to your support on this front.”
The president highlighted that Lebanon is working closely with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and coordinating through the Mechanism for Monitoring the Ceasefire, but stressed the urgent need for international pressure to compel Israel to honor the ceasefire.
For its part, the Security Council delegation voiced its support for stability in Lebanon through the implementation of international resolutions, according to the Lebanese presidency's statement.
The statement added that member states expressed readiness to assist the Lebanese Army in completing its deployment and ensuring the exclusive authority of state-held arms.
Despite a ceasefire agreement reached in November 2024, Israeli occupation forces continue to carry out near-daily airstrikes on Lebanon and maintain their occupation of five positions in the southern area.
Unprecedented meeting
The UN delegation’s visit follows an unprecedented meeting held a day earlier between Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives in Naqoura, with US officials present, in an effort to de-escalate tensions in southern Lebanon. The talks mark the first direct and publicly acknowledged engagement between the two sides in more than 30 years, officials from both countries said. However, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said new negotiations with Israel taking place under the auspices of a ceasefire monitoring mechanism were not broader peace talks.
On Thursday, Aoun said the opening session of negotiations with Israel in Naqoura laid the groundwork for further meetings scheduled to begin on 19 December. He emphasized that “the language of negotiation must prevail over war,” according to the presidency’s statement.
Aoun had also chaired a cabinet session on Thursday at the Baabda Palace, during which he announced the appointment of former ambassador Simon Karam to lead the Lebanese delegation on the joint ceasefire monitoring committee—known as the “Mechanism Committee.”
Israeli aggression unabated
That same day, Israel carried out four deadly strikes on southern Lebanese towns.
UN peacekeepers called the strikes "clear violations of Security Council resolution 1701", which ended the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon.
The peacekeepers also said their vehicles were fired on by six men on three mopeds near Bint Jbeil on Thursday. There were no injuries in the incident.
"Attacks on peacekeepers are unacceptable and serious violations of resolution 1701," the international force added.
The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon that came into effect on 27 November 2024 was supposed to bring relief to Lebanon after six weeks of Israeli strikes on the country.
The Israeli military aggression saw Israel's airstrikes devastate Lebanon’s infrastructure and target densely populated areas, killing at least 2,720 Lebanese, the majority of whom were civilians. It marked Israel’s sixth invasion of Lebanon since 1978.
Under the ceasefire terms, Israeli occupation forces were required to withdraw from Lebanon by 26 January 2025, fully. However, Israel has ignored this deadline, partially withdrawing troops from some villages while retaining control over five locations in the southern highlands.
The ongoing occupation of these outposts has been widely condemned as a blatant violation of the ceasefire, raising serious doubts about Israel’s commitment to upholding the agreement.
Hezbollah has honoured its side of the deal. It has ceased retaliatory attacks on Israel and, in coordination with the Lebanese army, has withdrawn from the area south of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border, dismantled all the remaining military infrastructure in the south, and allowed the army to take up its former positions near the southern border.
However, Israel has committed thousands of violations, with more than 10,000 reported by UNIFIL and 5,350 cited by Lebanese authorities by late November 2025.
These violations, including repeated strikes, have killed over 330 people and wounded 945.
In one such strike on 23 November, Israel assassinated Hezbollah Chief of Staff Haytham Ali Tabatabai in an attack on Beirut’s Haret Hreik neighbourhood.
Speaking at a memorial in Beirut’s southern suburbs after Tabatabai's assassination, Hezbollah MP Hasan Fadlallah said no genuine political offer has been presented that would halt Israeli aggression. "The enemy government has not met all the concessions made at the Lebanese political level with any step towards Lebanon, because what they are proposing is that the country surrender," said Fadlallah.
In tandem, President Aoun reiterated the call for immediate international intervention to halt Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon. “We call on the international community to assume its responsibility and intervene firmly and seriously to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people.”
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