Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Friday that his government would mobilize all available resources to secure Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory and rebuild southern Lebanon, as Israeli strikes and shelling continue across the region.
Speaking from Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, Salam said the country’s “true guarantee” was “a single state and a single army,” stressing the importance of strengthening state institutions and their presence in the South.
“The guarantee is that we will continue to mobilize resources to secure Israel’s withdrawal and build a sovereign state,” Salam said.
He added that the government would “do everything we can to revitalize southern Lebanon,” announcing 23 tenders for development projects in the region.
“I am here to emphasize that state institutions must resume serving citizens,” Salam said, adding that the government’s commitment to residents of the South “has not changed and will not change.”
“War is not our choice; it has been forced upon us,” he said.
