Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Wednesday defended the president's decision to appoint former Ambassador Simon Karam to the Mechanism Committee, saying the move is politically sound and enjoys national backing.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Salam criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for overstating Lebanon’s decision, stressing that the move does not mean the country is engaging in peace negotiations with Israel.

“Normalization of ties is linked to the broader peace process,” he said.

Salam also said that envoys who recently visited Beirut assessed the situation as “dangerous and prone to escalation.”

Turning to internal security, the Prime Minister reiterated that Hezbollah must hand over its weapons, calling this one of the “central pillars” of its participation in Lebanon’s state-building project. He emphasized that the group’s arsenal has neither deterred Israel nor protected Lebanon, and that the Lebanese state has regained authority over decisions of war and peace.

“We will not allow adventures that lead us into a new war, and lessons must be drawn from the recent experience of supporting Gaza,” Salam added.