The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday that its military goals in Lebanon have been achieved and that the Israeli government can promote a diplomatic resolution to end the conflict with its northern neighbour.
According to the IDF northern command, most of the Hizbullah infrastructure near the Lebanon-Israel border has been destroyed, and most of the militants’ weapons have been transferred to Israel or destroyed in the field. At the same time, the military said it still needs to complete the destruction of Hizbullah infrastructure in some villages, and will continue fighting in Lebanon until a final agreement is reached.
The army announcement coincided with a report in Israel’s Yediot Aharonot daily newspaper, quoting “senior Israeli officials”, that negotiations to end the war are in “advanced stages of crystallisation”. The optimistic assessment came despite Lebanese media reports that the weekend trip to the region by US special envoy Amos Hochstein failed to achieve a breakthrough.
According to the Yediot Aharonot report, Israeli military successes against Hizbullah mean Lebanon and Iran are now willing to reach a settlement even if the fighting continues in Gaza.
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The agreement under discussion reportedly envisages a 60-day “adjustment” period during which Hizbullah and Israel will observe a truce while the Lebanese Armed Forces deploy in southern Lebanon and a supervision mechanism for overseeing the agreement’s implementation is studied.
The proposed agreement, brokered by the US and other countries, has three components.
The first is an expanded UN security council resolution 1701 to guarantee that Hizbullah does not maintain any armed presence south of the Litani river. The Lebanese army would deploy up to 10,000 combat soldiers along Israel’s northern border. Unifil would be bolstered, possibly by replacing some of its battalions with French, British and German battalions.
The second component would involve the setting up of an international supervision and support mechanism, to which both sides would be able to report violations.
Finally, Hizbullah would be prevented from rearming.
Russia would also have a role in the agreement’s implementation and in efforts to prevent an escalation in future. In addition, Israel is seeking, but has still not received, a guarantee from Washington that it will be able to act militarily if Hizbullah violates the emerging agreement.
Israel hopes an agreement with Lebanon will create the conditions for the return of some 63,000 residents of northern Israel who fled their homes when Hizbullah started firing rockets the day after the start of the Gaza war on October 7th, 2023. However, many residents have already made it clear that they will not return, even if there is a sustained period of quiet.
More than 2,700 people have been killed by Israeli bombardments of Lebanon in parallel to the war in Gaza. At least two-thirds were killed in the last five weeks alone, when Israel stepped up its bombing campaign. Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley overnight on Monday killed more than 60 people across a dozen towns. – Additional reporting: Reuters
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