Lebanese Interior Minister Says State Will Reassert Authority in South

Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar said Friday that the Lebanese state would return to all parts of the country’s south and reassert its authority there.

“The south is at the heart of the state,” al-Hajjar said, underscoring his pledge that the region would be fully brought under state authority.

The minister’s remarks framed the state’s return as extending across the whole of the south, rather than being limited to particular areas.

The statement did not specify a timetable or outline the steps that would be taken to carry out that pledge.