BEIRUT (AP) Even if the grounds for an agreement seem to be right, diplomats and other officials say there have been a number of snags in ceasefire negotiations to end the war between Israel and the terrorist Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Although almost all of the extremist group’s top leaders have been slain by Israel’s military, the group still launches missiles into Israel. After being evacuated from the border months ago, tens of thousands of Israelis are putting pressure on their government to return home. Additionally, after more than a year of fighting, the world wants to prevent regional strife from expanding.
Israel struck central Beirut over the weekend after a U.S. mediator’s most recent visit to the area, and Hezbollah retaliated with its most intense offensive in weeks as both parties put pressure on the other to reach an agreement.
Since the day after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the war in Gaza, Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging gunfire nearly every day.
Two months ago, Israel began a massive bombing of Lebanon before launching a ground invasion. There have been around 3,500 fatalities in Lebanon, many of them civilians.
Over 40 of the more than 70 people killed in Israel were civilians. Furthermore, the ground offensive has resulted in the deaths of more than fifty Israeli soldiers.
Here is a look at the proposal’s main issues.
A two-month ceasefire is suggested to begin
According to the plan being discussed, Israel and Hezbollah would suspend hostilities for two months, during which time Israeli forces would leave Lebanon and Hezbollah would remove its armed position along the southern border south of the Litani River.
Along with an already-existing U.N. peacekeeping mission, hundreds more Lebanese army troops—who have been mainly ignored during the conflict—would join the withdrawals to guard the border region.
The ceasefire agreement and U.N. Security Council resolution 1701, which was issued in 2006 to terminate a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah but was never completely followed, would be monitored by an international committee. Lebanon said Israel frequently infringed its airspace and captured tiny areas of its territory, although Hezbollah never left southern Lebanon.
Whether a new agreement would be implemented any more successfully than the 2006 one is unclear.
Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Michael Herzog, stated on Israeli Army Radio Monday that the agreement was intended to enhance monitoring and implementation of the earlier resolution. A agreement was close and might be concluded in a matter of days, he claimed, although there were still some details that needed to be worked out.
Negotiations moved further on Sunday, according to a U.S. official, but there are still certain concerns that need to be resolved before the deal can be finalized. The official refused to elaborate on the unresolved concerns and insisted on anonymity when discussing the private discussions.
Israel desires the flexibility to attack Hezbollah and other targets.
Speaking to The Associated Press under condition of anonymity due to their lack of authorization to discuss ongoing negotiations, two Western officials detailed a number of grounds of contention.
According to them, Israel was requesting additional assurances to guarantee the removal of Hezbollah’s weaponry from the border region. Israeli officials have stated that they would not accept a ceasefire agreement that does not specifically give them the right to strike in Lebanon if they feel Hezbollah is breaking it. They are worried that Hezbollah might launch an attack similar to the one that Hamas carried out from Gaza into southern Israel.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the sensitive conversations, an Israeli official stated that while the talks were moving in a favorable direction, the matter remained a point of disagreement.
Lebanon’s sovereignty would be violated, according to Lebanese officials, if they agreed to such a pact. According to Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem, the militant organization would not accept an agreement that does not guarantee Lebanon’s sovereignty and does not call for a full and total cessation of the attack.
Israel and Lebanon are also at odds over who will serve on the international committee that will supervise the deal’s and Resolution 1701’s implementation. France, which has maintained a close relationship with Lebanon since the end of its colonial administration there and has recently been at differences with Israel, was denied entry by Israel, according to the diplomats. The Israeli official acknowledged that there was disagreement over France’s role. In the meantime, Israel’s key friend Britain has been denied entry by Lebanon.
Additionally, the diplomats stated that Israel is unwilling to engage in ceasefire negotiations on 13 disputed areas along the border.
During a visit to Lebanon on Sunday, Josep Borrell, the senior diplomat for the European Union and someone with a tense relationship with the Israeli government, stated that he is not sure that Israel is genuinely interested in coming to a ceasefire accord.
Ending the war is something that all parties are interested in.
It is anticipated that a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the most potent of Iran’s military proxies, will greatly reduce regional tensions that have raised concerns about a direct conflict between Israel and Iran. How it would impact the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza is unclear. Hezbollah has now renounced its long-standing demand that a ceasefire be agreed to until the war in Gaza is over.
According to one diplomat, Israel is trying to stop Hezbollah from receiving weapons from Iran, and if a truce is not struck, there are concerns that the conflict may spread into Syria and Iraq. Israel has threatened to strike in Iraq, where Iran-backed militias have occasionally launched drone assaults on Israel, and has regularly carried out airstrikes on groups associated with Iran in Syria.
During a visit to Damascus on Sunday, U.N. special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen stated that ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon are essential to preventing Syria from being drawn further into the conflict.
Hezbollah has been weakened, according to observers, but it still fires consistently into Israel, including attacks that occur far from the border.
In retaliation for the deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut, Hezbollah launched over 250 rockets and other missiles into Israel on Sunday, inflicting seven injuries in one of the militant group’s most intense attacks in months. As Israeli forces try to seize control of key cities in southern Lebanon, violent skirmishes persist.
Israel claims that allowing displaced Israelis to return home safely is its main objective in the conflict with Hezbollah. Parts of Lebanon, especially in south Lebanon and places south of the capital Beirut, have been destroyed, and a fifth of the population has been displaced.
Amos Hochstein, the Biden administration’s point man on Israel and Lebanon, left the region this week without reaching an agreement, which caused an initial surge of hope to fade in Lebanon, where leaders and citizens are eager for the war to stop.
A lot of people now think that no deal will be made before Donald Trump, the president-elect, takes office in January.
___
Goldenberg covered the story from Israel’s Tel Aviv. From Washington, Aamer Madhani, a journalist for the Associated Press, contributed.
___
Visit this link to view other AP war coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
The Associated Press, 2024. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. It is prohibited to publish, broadcast, rewrite, or redistribute this content without authorization.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!