What is the framework agreement signed by Israel and Lebanon?
Deal comes after months of US-brokered direct talks, but Israel continues to occupy Lebanese land. At the signing ceremony for the framework agreement between Israel
Deal comes after months of US-brokered direct talks, but Israel continues to occupy Lebanese land. At the signing ceremony for the framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon in Washington on Friday, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the deal as “the beginning of the beginning”. “There is a lot of work ahead,” Rubio said. “Today is the first step. The first step is sometimes the hardest one.” The US had brokered the direct talks, which began in April, and it is also a signatory to what is officially a trilateral agreement. But the wording of the agreement has not been officially published, and Israel continues to occupy a large area of southern Lebanon. Israel, meanwhile, also appears to be signalling that it will continue its attacks in the country if it deems them necessary. The country has been at war with the pro-Iranian Lebanese group Hezbollah since October 2023, with varying levels of intensity, and has killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon since March. What do we know about the contents of the agreement? Rubio said in a statement that the deal “establishes a clear and structured process to restore Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm [Hezbollah] and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and enable Israel to return to its borders once that threat to its citizens is removed”. “It also creates a trilateral Military Coordination Group for Lebanon … allowing the two sides to implement this Framework,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam wrote on social media that the agreement “aims to achieve Israel’s withdrawal from all Lebanese territories”. But he added that the deal was essentially a continuation of past agreements and United Nations resolutions that stipulate that the Lebanese military maintains authority over all parts of Lebanon — a challenge to both Israel and Hezbollah. News reports have emerged, revealing further details from the framework agreement. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said that Israel had agreed to withdraw from two areas in southern Lebanon. One of the areas is north of the “Yellow Line”, a military zone Israel controls that stretches roughly 10 kilometres into Lebanon, and the other is inside the Yellow Line. The news outlet Axios also reported similar details. It identified the areas as “pilot projects” where the Lebanese army would deploy once Israeli forces withdraw from that area. Al Jazeera has not been able to confirm those details, but the Reuters news agency said that Israeli and Lebanese officials had denied the reports. What is the military situation in Lebanon? Israel has destroyed villages and towns across southern Lebanon, where it has focused most of its attacks. It has also struck the Lebanese capital Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley in recent weeks, claiming to target Hezbollah. A ceasefire agreed during previous Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington has led to a partial de-escalation in the fighting, but Israel has not fully stopped its attacks and continues to occupy approximately one-fifth of Lebanon.
The BriefWire