Beirut: The government secured the backing of 68 MPs, while 12 voted to withhold confidence and two abstained. The vote came at the end of a two-day parliamentary debate that covered the war and negotiations with Israel, efforts to restrict weapons to the authority of the Lebanese state, as well as economic and social conditions.

In his closing remarks, Salam said the framework between Lebanon and Israel should be viewed as a political basis for negotiations rather than an agreement or treaty in the legal sense.

He said the framework provides for a phased Israeli withdrawal and calls for the Lebanese state to extend its sovereignty and exclusive authority across its territory. Salam also stressed that greater national unity behind state institutions would strengthen Lebanon’s position at the negotiating table.