The Special Representative of the US Presidency for the Middle East, Amos Hochstein, is in Beirut this Tuesday trying to persuade the Lebanese Hezbollah (Party of Allah) to reach a ceasefire agreement with Israel. However, the truce between the parties to the armed conflict, which led to a ground invasion of southern Lebanon by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) early last month, remains in doubt.
According to a Lebanese official quoted by CNN on November 19, the US-backed proposal aims to achieve a 60-day cessation of hostilities and is being touted as the basis for a lasting truce. The interlocutor of the American television channel affirmed that the conditions correspond to the parameters of Resolution 1701 of the UN Security Council, which ended the Lebanese-Israeli war of 2006.
The decision of the world organization’s Security Council, which is legally binding on the parties to the conflict, stipulates that the only armed forces in the area south of the Litani River in Lebanon should be the army of this country and the peacekeepers. of the UN. . The proposal also calls for the withdrawal of Israeli ground forces operating in southern Lebanon since October 1 and stricter compliance with Resolution 1701, the official said.
Meanwhile, an Israeli source familiar with the progress of the negotiations doubted the likelihood of a quick deal, noting that Hezbollah’s refusal to accept Israel’s demand for the right to attack Lebanon’s main Shiite organization if it violates the ceasefire The fire could endanger the negotiation process. Without this clause, he stressed, it is not clear whether the Israeli Prime Minister will be able Benjamin Netanyahu obtain cabinet approval for the deal.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel SmotrichIn a foray outside his own sphere, he had previously said that “full operational freedom” for the Israeli army in southern Lebanon was “non-negotiable.”
“At the end of the war, we will have operational freedom in Gaza and therefore we will have operational freedom in Lebanon.” – he stated.
Another member of the Israeli government recently appointed to the position of Defense Minister Israel Katz Last week he mentioned another condition for Tel Aviv before agreeing to a truce with Hezbollah: the disarmament of the Party of Allah. However, as can be seen from reports from knowledgeable sources, this condition does not have the character of an ultimatum on the part of Israel, unlike of the demand for “full operational freedom” of action in the event of failure of the ceasefire. Netanyahu’s cabinet is aware that Hezbollah’s demand for demilitarization is initially unacceptable to Iran’s closest ally in the region and will only lead negotiations to a dead end.
Not everything is obvious with the Israelis’ condition regarding the IDF’s “complete operational freedom” in the north. Prime Minister of Lebanon Najib Mikati He called reports of demands to give the Israeli army freedom of action in southern Lebanon “speculation,” adding that he saw no such clause in the truce proposals.
President of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berriwho heads the Amal Party, an ally of Hezbollah, and is, according to the same informed sources, a key participant in the negotiations on the Lebanese side, told Saudi media that the proposal he received from the United States did not mention the freedom of action of the Israeli army in Lebanon, adding that Washington knows such a demand would be “unacceptable” to Beirut.
A Lebanese source familiar with the talks told CNN that the president-elect donald trump approved the “general course” of the ceasefire negotiations, promoted by US special representative Amos Hochstein, which “increases the chances of their success.”
Speaking to reporters in Beirut, Hochstein said a ceasefire “is now within our reach” but that ultimately “it was up to the parties to reach a conclusion,” Al Jazeera reported.
“Since there is time, I hope that a bold decision will be made in the coming days.” – he added.
According to him, today he will meet with the Prime Minister of Lebanon. Najib Mikati and other senior Lebanese officials.
“I am willing to do everything possible to work with the Lebanese and Israeli governments to see this through to the end.” – assured the American diplomatic “curator” of the Middle East.
National Security Advisor to the President of the United States Jake Sullivan admitted last Monday that they still do not have an agreement on a draft ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel, but the administration joe biden He believes that “progress is being observed.”
“We think we’re seeing progress,” he told the PBS News Hour. “We believe that both sides, both Lebanese and Israeli, have expressed their willingness to do so. And do it in a short time.”
In the Gaza Strip, a senior US administration official said the Israelis had agreed to create a new route to deliver daily humanitarian aid to the enclave, which he said had resulted in a “significant increase” in aid volumes. .
Meanwhile, the situation in Lebanon is increasingly reminiscent of the terrible images of Gaza, which has been living in conditions of humanitarian disaster for more than a year. In this case, the most vulnerable civilians suffer again.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is sounding the alarm that children in Lebanon face a “silent normalization of horror.” In the last two months, more than 200 children have been killed and 1,100 injured in Israeli attacks in the Arab Republic, according to UNICEF data.
“In Lebanon, as in the Gaza Strip, the unbearable is quietly transformed into acceptable. And the terrible thing moves into the realm of the expected,” said the UNICEF representative. James Elder at a press conference in Geneva, Al Jazeera reported on November 19. “And again the children’s screams are not heard, the silence of the world becomes deafening. Once again, we allow the unimaginable to become the landscape of childhood. A terrifying and unacceptable new normal.”
In early reports about the deal being prepared between Israel and Hezbollah, Russia was mentioned as another mediator on world power status, in addition to the United States. However, to date Moscow’s mediation has not received official confirmation. According to several Arab experts, this can be explained by the currently quite tense relations between Russia and Israel in the context of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the aggressive actions of the Israelis in Syria, where they are carrying out air strikes near the bases. of Russian military personnel.
One way or another, Moscow’s role in ending the upcoming Lebanese-Israeli war seems important to both sides of the conflict. In this sense, Arab commentators draw attention to the fact that there is a close political-military dialogue between Moscow and Tehran. It is assumed that the Russian side can exert “certain influence” on the Iranians so that they, in turn, convince Hezbollah to accept the main condition of the Israelis: the withdrawal of all units of the “Party of Allah” to the north of the Litani River (flows through southern Lebanon, about 30 km north of the border with Israel). Otherwise, Hezbollah will face much harsher conditions from the Jewish state, including its disarmament.
As part of the proposed deal, Syria is expected to be responsible for stopping any arms transfers from its territory to Lebanon. Therefore, given the Russian military presence in the Syrian Arab Republic and Moscow’s influence in Damascus, the agreement presumably includes international guarantees from the United States and Russia to prevent Hezbollah from rearming.
