Marqas: Aoun Insists on Consolidating Ceasefire... And We Trust Berri

Information Minister Paul Marqas affirmed "the necessity of a ceasefire and stopping Israeli attacks," and saw that it "has not yet been achieved as required, and therefore, President of the Republic General Joseph Aoun insists that this demand be fundamental as a necessary entry point to proceed with achieving all other sovereign demands in the negotiation track."

Regarding the security track of the negotiations, Marqas explained, in "Saray Dialogues," that "meetings will be held at the end of the month attended by Lebanese officers, and this is not an independent track but a fundamental technical part related to cooperation with the United States of America in order to achieve Lebanon's sovereign goals sought by His Excellency the President in partnership with the Prime Minister, which are liberating the land, Israeli withdrawal, liberating prisoners in preparation for the return of the displaced and reconstruction."

He added: "There is American understanding of the Lebanese position, and there is full partnership between President Aoun and Prime Minister Salam in the negotiation track, in addition to full briefing of President Nabih Berri on the proceedings of the two negotiation days held last week, in all their details. We hope this coordination continues to achieve Lebanon's sovereign rights."

In response to a question about targeting journalists, he affirmed that "before the Israeli war, specifically on October 29, 2025, on the anniversary of the martyr Issam Abdullah, I requested the Council of Ministers to issue a decision tasking the Ministry of Justice with studying legal options. I also requested the Council of Ministers, during the last war, to issue two decisions regarding completing the tasking of the International Humanitarian Law Committee chaired by President Tarek Mitri to receive this information and submit it to the relevant international forums, and between this and that we achieved a lot, including cooperation with the Beirut Bar Association Council in this framework."

He pointed out that "Israeli attacks on civilians, ambulance crews, or journalists while performing their duties constitute a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, particularly the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols of 1977, specifically Article 79 of Protocol I, which stipulates the protection of journalists during armed conflicts. We communicated, although the Ministry of Information is not the body authorized to litigate before international forums, with Lebanon's representative to the Human Rights Council, and with Lebanon's representative to UNESCO, and we also communicated with relevant international organizations, all in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants. We documented the attacks and submitted protest notes to UNIFIL, the European Union mission, ambassadors of European countries, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, and we gave them the information and names of martyrs, wounded, and journalists who were subjected to attacks. We also requested UNESCO to take clear positions in defense of Lebanese journalists, which it did, and we coordinated with the National Committee for International Humanitarian Law to provide it with all necessary information so that the Lebanese state can follow up on the movement before the competent international bodies."

He continued: "Accordingly, we were informed that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will visit Lebanon soon to form a fact-finding mission, which is a demand we are working on to document attacks on journalists and raise them to international forums, with Lebanon to complete its follow-up on this file before the Human Rights Council."

Regarding combating hate speech, he affirmed commitment to shared values "because Lebanon is distinguished by many virtues, the most important of which are the resilience of the Lebanese, their intelligence, and their linguistic and cultural communication. It is more fitting for us to use social media well, which was originally created for communication and dialogue, not for insult, defamation, verbal and moral violence. Therefore, we conduct campaigns in the Ministry of Information and ask social media users to verify and think before publishing and circulating any misleading news because it also contributes to the war without us knowing." He pointed out that "the role of the Ministry of Information is not to exercise censorship over journalists, but to interact with them so that the discourse is balanced and dignified, while respecting the sanctity of testimony and death for others, their dignities, freedoms, rights, statuses, and religious values. Therefore, we must balance between freedom and responsibility, and preserve civil peace as His Excellency the President reiterates." Indicating that "the new media law includes provisions on hate speech on websites, and it is necessary to pass it, and we still have trust and hope in the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Nabih Berri, to include it on the agenda of the general assembly of the House of Representatives because it has been thoroughly discussed."

He saw that "violating ethics is absolutely impermissible, and we consider it a violation of freedom of opinion, expression, and media, and the matter then falls under the jurisdiction of the judiciary." He pointed out that "false news spreads quickly, and often causes panic and chaos and leads to inciting people, and therefore the role of the Ministry of Information remains fundamental. Coordination between us and the judiciary is limited only to protecting journalists from prosecution outside the exclusive jurisdiction of the Press Court."

On the other hand, he explained that "Radio Lebanon emerged in the latest ranking in order, and will improve further, and it includes abundant energies, in addition to the archive, a copy of which we sent to the Central Bank of Lebanon for preservation. We are working to have a special fund for it, and we are working on a draft law for that. To avoid clashing with administrative and routine obstacles, the radio must have a kind of independence and privacy."

He described talk about negotiations to allocate an army brigade in the south as "inaccurate," and said: "This position crystallized from President Aoun, according to the constitutional powers vested in him under Article 52 of the Constitution, in partnership with the Prime Minister."

On the other hand, the Information Minister indicated that "Lebanon, media-wise, was ranked 140th at the beginning of the presidential term, and has now become ranked 115th, advancing about 25 Arab and Asian countries."

He pointed out that regarding broadcasting the World Cup football matches on "Tele Liban" screen, "the President of the Republic, personally concerned with this matter, was briefed on the details by the Chairwoman of the Television Board of Directors, and he provides the necessary political cover and international communications."

Minister Marqas supported the idea of introducing media into school curricula and announced that "in cooperation with the Minister of Education, we launch an awareness and training campaign for school students and university students on how to use technology and the proper use of artificial intelligence and how to communicate on social media, and we made available to the Ministry of Education 11 video clips for students to watch, and there is a partnership with international organizations to produce new training materials in this field."

In the context of the talk, he pointed to "cooperation between the Ministry of Information and Beirut Arab University, and the 'Cultural Salon Hall in Radio Lebanon' will be inaugurated on June 3 with the participation of the National Orchestra and university students to implement one aspect of the agreement with the university."

He announced that "the Arab Media Forum has again requested to hold its next session in the fall in Lebanon due to the warm reception it received, and I have submitted the request to President Aoun for his patronage."