Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says that he is working to stop the Israel-Hezbollah war and to ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops in south Lebanon, AFP reports.

“We will continue to work to stop this war, to ensure the Israeli withdrawal from all our lands, the return of all the prisoners, to rebuild our destroyed villages and towns, and the safe return of the displaced,” Salam says in a speech on the eve of the anniversary of the start of the country’s 1975-1990 civil war.

“We are continuing our efforts… to negotiate to stop the war,” he adds in the televised address ahead of planned talks on Tuesday in Washington between Lebanese, Israeli and US officials.