Israeli government prepares to approve this afternoon a ceasefire agreement with the Shiite group Hezbollah in LebanonEven though just hours before the Security Cabinet meets to vote on the truce, disagreement between the parties over whether Israel will have freedom of action to resume its attacks if the agreement is not respected is still relevant today.
At 5:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. GMT), the Security Cabinet, which brings together Israel’s top ministers and security and intelligence leaders, will meet in Tel Aviv to, according to sources close to the negotiations, “discuss and approve“the agreement.
A decision which comes after the Israeli bombings in Lebanon. caused more than 3,500 deaths last yearas well as the displacement of 1.2 million people. In Israel, 78 people were killed (including 47 civilians), while some 60,000 people were displaced following the exchange of fire with Hezbollah.
What does the agreement between Israel and Hezbollah say?
These are the main points of the agreement, according to leaks in Hebrew media.
- Consensus between the parties: disarmament of the south in 60 days. Israel and Hezbollah reportedly agreed to disarmament of southern Lebanon in an initial 60-day phase, during which Israeli troops would withdraw and Hezbollah would withdraw north of the Litani River, in line with the withdrawal of armed personnel from the Blue line which stipulates UN Security Council Resolution 1701, created after the 2006 war.
- The Lebanese army will instead deploy thousands of soldiers in an empty zone. The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom brings together American troops under the command of US Central Command (Centcom) They will supervise and coordinate relations between the armed forces Israelis and Lebanese at the start of the agreement.
- The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, will participate in demining the area. Its peacekeepers were injured during several incidents with Israeli troops, although the last four, Italians, were slightly injured on November 22 by the impact of a rocket attributed by Israel to Hezbollah. French troops will also be involved in this supervision work.
- Creation of an international control body. The agreement also provides for the creation of an international organization, led by the United States, to supervise compliance with the ceasefire, in which four other countries will also participate, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and, presumably, a fifth. Arab country. Israel opposes France’s presence within the group, following tensions between the two countries after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested an arms embargo against Israel in October. to force a truce that would also cover Gaza. He Channel 12 on Israeli television claims that the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, would have imposed on Israel the presence of France in the group as a condition of the agreement. Lebanon opposed that of the United Kingdom, although the Israeli concession to France’s presence facilitated its access.
- Disagreement: Israel’s right to resume attacks. Israel demands freedom to attack Lebanon again if the agreement is not respected in three cases: rearmament of Hezbollahthe preparation of an attack against Israeli territory or the return of militiamen from the pro-Iranian group to the south of the country.
- Israeli media suggests that the army can attack if there is an immediate threat to Israelwhile in the rest of the cases, the international committee will be responsible for acting accordingly. Regarding rearmament, Israel intended to be able to attack Lebanon again if Iran continued to send weapons to Hezbollah via Syria. According to the Channel 12the United States is putting pressure on the Jewish state to carry out its attacks in this direction on Syrian territory.
- Lebanon agrees to monitor the purchase and manufacture of weapons in the country so that they do not reach the Shiite group. Hezbollah leader Naim Qasem assured that he would guarantee Israel “freedom of action” represents a violation of Lebanese sovereignty, and that the group will only accept an agreement that would bring a “complete and exhaustive” end to the war.
- After 60 days: negotiate the border. At the end of the 60-day disarmament period, Israel and Lebanon will negotiate the demarcation of the border between the two countries, since there is currently a demarcation line, the Blue Line, established by the UN after the war in 2006, assures Israel. does not aim to establish a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, but will not return the prisoners either of Hezbollah taken during the conflict in Lebanon. The parties, also with the mediation of the American Amos Hochstein, have already reached an agreement in 2022 to demarcate their maritime border and distribute gas deposits in Mediterranean waters.
