00:00We're moving to the Middle East next. Direct talks between Israel and Lebanon are set to resume next
00:06week, but Israel and Hezbollah continue to exchange fire, with at least 380 people killed
00:12since the fragile ceasefire took effect in April. This week, Israel also struck Lebanon's capital
00:18of Beirut for the first time since the start of that ceasefire. We're now joined live by Nadim
00:24Jemayel, a Lebanese parliamentarian for the Kataeb party. Good morning, sir. Good to have you with
00:29this. Can I start by asking you, is it fair to say now that the ceasefire has completely
00:35collapsed? And what does that mean for these talks between Lebanon and Israel?
00:40So let's start by saying that there was no real ceasefire during this last two weeks because
00:47effectively small butter and skirmish were continuing between Israel and Hezbollah in the south of
00:54Lebanon. And of course, what happened yesterday in Dahi was like a proof that this ceasefire is
01:02very, very, very shallow. Now, just to put things into perspective, we need to ensure that there is
01:10no, we are not in a war between Lebanon and Israel. The real problem is between Hezbollah and Israel,
01:19between Iran and the West, including the United States and Israel. And we are paying the price as
01:25Lebanese people.
01:27Indeed. I will ask you about Hezbollah in just a moment. But I want to ask you about the Israeli
01:32side
01:32first, because we know the situation in the south, demolitions, shellings continue. Is that acceptable?
01:39This is, of course, not acceptable. But this is at the same time, we need we need to find a
01:47final
01:47solution. And this final solution reside on the fact that we have we had in our south
01:56militias and organization military organization that are outside the state that are outside the
02:03organization of the state and who took Lebanon and the territory of Lebanon and the sovereignty of
02:08Lebanon as hostages and into a world that the Lebanese people didn't want. So today, what we're
02:14asking is to have one army, one decision and one authority that take all the decision on the ground.
02:22The major obstacle to that is, of course, Hezbollah. They are the warring party, as you said,
02:27not Lebanon. But how can the Lebanese authorities now fulfill its commitment to disarming Hezbollah when
02:35the group refuses to do so and also when Hezbollah as a political movement still holds sway over parts
02:42of the population? This requires a lot of will. It requires a lot of courage and it requires a decision
02:51from the head of the state in order to impose their authority and their presence. Today, the state is
02:57nearly unpresent. It declared, we are a country with a flag, but without a state. And today, what we want
03:06effectively is that this state be present, be effective, and have the authority to take all the
03:12decisions. We know that this will not take, it will not happen overnight. This will happen on a long
03:18path, but we need to start it and the state needs to approve and the state needs to be existent.
03:26That's what we're asking today from the government of Lebanon.
03:30Okay, Nadim Jemayel, thank you so much for your time and for joining us on Europe Today this morning.
Comments