BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun ruled out normalisation between his country and Israel on Friday (Jul 11), while expressing hope for peaceful relations with Beirut's southern neighbour, which still occupies parts of southern Lebanon. Aoun's statement is the first official reaction to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar's statement last week in which he expressed his country's interest in normalising ties with Lebanon and Syria. Aoun "distinguished between peace and normalisation",