It is no coincidence that Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is conducting his tour in Nabatieh immediately after returning from New York and Washington. This area, which is close to the occupation's borders, was a field extension of his international and American tour.

In between, the Cabinet session took place due to the legal deadlines for the budget, while the schedule for the visit to Nabatieh was prepared in advance, as it was present at every table Salam sat at on behalf of the state. Therefore, he told the people of the region and the south: "Your needs and concerns were with me in New York and Washington in all my meetings."

The theme that Salam wanted to impose on the tour with its details is the return of the state to the south, which has been accused of resigning from its duties towards a region that has been turned into a battleground for influence projects due to regional transformations. Therefore, all the inaugurations and steps that took place yesterday were designed to be a practical expression of the government's commitment to restoring the regularity of public and institutional life in a region that has long suffered from state void.

From the restoration of the governmental palace to the announced tenders, and those that will be announced, passing through the opening of the General Security and State Security centers and the Civil Registry department, the message was that institutions go beyond buildings to presence, functions, and services.

Moreover, the restoration goes beyond the material meaning and connects to restoring part of the national memory and the logic of the shattered state. Small steps in appearance, but necessary to bridge the chronic gap between legitimacy and society, through accumulating presence and achievement, while respecting religious particularities, away from political propaganda that adopts sharp sectarian polarization as an existential defense mechanism.

But how can this path be established while the region is captive to ambiguity and uncertainty, and Lebanon is politically swaying between Israel and the Revolutionary Guard in Lebanon, embodied in "Hezbollah"? How can the executive steps withstand if the framework agreement becomes a body without a soul, while the opponents hasten its eulogy?

Here lies the importance of Salam's tour in New York and Washington and its results as a key to understanding the Nabatieh tour. If his meetings with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund carried an appreciation for what the government has accomplished in necessary steps, and opened new windows that could inject some "oxygen" into an economy suffering from structural suffocation, then his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio carried the title most connected to the south: reviving the framework agreement.

This revival has two keys: the first is a reliable verification force that breaks the cycle of stagnation between the vague Israeli conditions and the controls of the Lebanese army, through clear and precise mechanisms. The second is the timetable for the Israeli withdrawal, which is also linked to verification mechanisms within a "step-by-step" strategy.

This means that the state enters every area and regains its functions, from the army to other executive institutions, then the verification force comes to resolve any debate about "pockets" outside legitimacy. The ball then moves to Israel's court to withdraw from the next area. Nabatieh, in this sense, is the first translation of this equation, albeit still incomplete.

In this test, Lebanon has no choice but to adhere to international legitimacy and its treaties as a political tool to reinforce the legitimacy of the state. As if it is borrowing one of the pillars of the negotiating strategy of Austrian Chancellor Clemens von Metternich during the conflicts in Europe in the 19th century: turning treaties and international understandings into tools for managing conflict and protecting its balances.

This is what prompted the Prime Minister, during his meeting with the UN Secretary-General, to discuss an alternative force to replace "UNIFIL" under the banner of international legitimacy, which can complement the verification force, extending beyond the mechanisms of southern Litani, and falling within the provisions of Resolution 1701 and the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

In this sense, the thread connecting the visit to Nabatieh and the tour in Washington and New York becomes clear. What Salam is seeking externally between the corridors of the United Nations, international funds, and American decision-making circles is the framework that allows the state to move southward. What has begun to be implemented in Nabatieh is the field test of this path. Between them stands the framework agreement as a link between negotiation, mechanisms, and implementation, based on a "step-by-step" approach.