BEIRUT / Wassim Seif Eddine / Anadolu

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Monday briefed the cabinet on the results of his visit to Turkey, which included discussing the activation of two railway lines and boosting Turkish investments in his country.

This came as announced by Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos in a press conference after the weekly cabinet session.

Morcos said the cabinet discussed the results of Salam's visit to Istanbul on July 10 of this month.

He explained that the discussions covered the activation of two railway lines: Tripoli-Homs and Beirut-Damascus, and boosting Turkish investments in Lebanon, especially in the infrastructure sector.

Activating the two lines means reviving and rehabilitating the historic joint railway network between Lebanon and Syria, after its suspension for decades, to connect Lebanese ports with the Syrian and regional hinterlands.

Morcos added that the two sides discussed the tripartite electrical interconnection project between Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon, and the memorandum of understanding signed between Turkey and Saudi Arabia regarding the Hejaz Railway project.

The talks also covered increasing Turkish investments in Lebanon, especially in infrastructure projects, and reviving the free trade agreement between the two countries.

Morcos reported that Salam asked the relevant ministers to follow up on these files with their Turkish counterparts.

He said that Salam informed the cabinet that his talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed the independence of Lebanese decision-making in negotiations and the need to accelerate Israel's withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

Since March 2, 2026, Israel has been waging an aggression on Lebanon that has resulted in 4,328 dead and 12,229 wounded, in addition to more than one million displaced, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Under U.S. sponsorship, Beirut is negotiating with Israel, which occupies areas in southern Lebanon, some for decades, and others since the previous aggression between 2023 and 2024, and has advanced more than 10 kilometers into Lebanese territory during the current aggression.

In a separate context, Morcos said the cabinet reviewed the results of the visit of Minister of Economy and Trade Amer Bisat to Syria on July 14 of this month.

He added that the economy minister informed the cabinet that there are 42 agreements signed between Lebanon and Syria that will be reviewed by the competent ministers.

Bisat's discussions with the Syrian side also addressed the development of border crossings, foremost among them the Masnaa crossing, through reviewing administrative, customs, and traffic procedures to facilitate transit, according to Morcos.