Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned on Sunday that the Middle East remains far from any durable calm, arguing that the ceasefire arrangement with Israel has yet to be respected by either side and insisting that its implementation must be reciprocal.

Speaking at the Doha Forum 2025 during a panel on “Justice in Action: Beyond Promises to Progress,” Salam said the U.S.- and French-brokered ceasefire announced a year earlier had “not been honored by any party so far,” adding that Lebanon continues to face a “war of attrition… conducted by one side, by Israel."

“We should have been in a phase of cessation of hostilities,” he said in a separate on-stage interview with Economist Middle East correspondent Gregg Carlstrom. “Unfortunately, that has not been observed—first and foremost by Israel. There has been no cessation of hostilities on Israel’s part.”

Salam said accountability must apply across the board, stressing that “everyone should be held to the commitments they accepted.”

The prime minister pointed to Israel’s continued presence at several border positions inside Lebanon, saying the sites carry no meaningful military or strategic relevance in an era dominated by satellite surveillance, drones, and advanced monitoring systems.

“No one has convinced me that these points matter in the age of satellite imagery, drones, and balloons tracking the border,” he said. “We are not in World War I, where you needed to sit on a hilltop to watch what’s around you.”

He stressed that Israel was required to withdraw from all Lebanese territory as part of the 2024 understanding, and that its failure to do so remains a central obstacle.

Salam rejected claims that Hezbollah’s armament alone is preventing the implementation of the agreement or of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which mandates a weapons-free zone south of the Litani River.

Lebanon, he said, has already developed a phased army plan to restore the State’s exclusive authority over all arms, beginning with a complete weapons monopoly both north and south of the Litani.

“Implementation cannot be partial or one-directional,” Salam said. “Hezbollah, like every Lebanese actor that agreed to this framework, will have to comply. But Israel must also meet its own obligations.”

Salam told the forum he and President Joseph Aoun share the same strategic objective on the question of arms control: establishing a full and exclusive state monopoly over weapons. While they come from “different backgrounds” and work at “different speeds,” he said, both are committed to swift reform.

Turning to Lebanon’s deep economic crisis, Salam outlined three pillars of his reform agenda: reasserting State sovereignty and its exclusive control of weapons; enacting financial reforms to ease the economic and social emergency; and pursuing administrative and judicial reforms, including bolstering judicial independence, regulating public-sector hiring, and updating banking laws to protect depositors.

He said a long-awaited draft law enabling depositors to regain access to bank accounts frozen since the 2019 collapse is nearly complete and will be submitted to Parliament before the end of December. The legislation, he noted, also includes a mechanism for dividing financial losses between the state and depositors.

Salam reaffirmed that Lebanon’s 2026 parliamentary elections will be held on time, saying preparations began in May. Whether he seeks another term as prime minister, he said, will depend on the composition of the next parliament.

“First, I want to finish this term,” he said. “The next Parliament will make that decision.”