How is framework agreement with Lebanon viewed in Israel?
Israel, Lebanon and the US have signed deal aimed at ending hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, but Lebanese group rejects it outright. The announcement of
Israel, Lebanon and the US have signed deal aimed at ending hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, but Lebanese group rejects it outright. The announcement of a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon after negotiations in the United States has been met with guarded optimism in Israel. Friday’s agreement describes a “sequenced process” that will see the Lebanese army restore “effective sovereign authority over all Lebanese territory, pending the verified disarmament of non-state armed groups” – a clear reference to Hezbollah, which has been fighting with Israel since October 2023, with varying levels of intensity. Only once that process is completed, will Israeli forces be able to “progressively redeploy” out of the large area of southern Lebanon they have occupied since early March, when they launched a renewed offensive that has killed more than 4,000 people. The Washington framework does not specify what measures will be used to verify disarmament but outlines two “pilot zones” for an initial Israeli withdrawal, where the Lebanese military “will gradually assume full and effective security responsibility”. Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House, said “only time and its implementation will determine” whether this is “a real agreement or just something signed” to appease the US, Israel’s principal backer and a signatory to Friday’s agreement. Last week, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to end the war launched by the US and Israel against Iran in late February that was conditional upon Israel halting its campaign in Lebanon and agreeing to respect the “territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon”.
“Could an Israeli government really withdraw entirely from Lebanon and then face the electorate? We don’t know,” said Mekelberg. “Equally, can a Lebanese government ever really deal with Hezbollah, whose problem it really is? It seems unlikely.” As widely expected, Hezbollah rejected the framework outright. In a statement on Saturday, the group’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem called the Washington agreement “null and void” and insisted that the Iran-US MoU should be the basis for ending the conflict. He also warned against linking Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon to Hezbollah’s disarmament, saying that crossed “all red lines”. But how have Israeli politicians reacted to the framework, and how likely is it that it will be implemented? What has Israel’s PM said? Shortly after the framework’s announcement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a video statement in which he attempted to sell the agreement to a public that polls show to be reluctant to halt the offensive against Hezbollah. Describing the agreement as a major blow to Hezbollah’s ally and the country he has historically cast as Israel’s nemesis, Iran, Netanyahu assured the public – particularly citizens of northern Israel who have been most vulnerable to Hezbollah fire – that Israel would maintain its “buffer zone” within Lebanese territory until Hezbollah was disarmed. “Iran is trying to coax us to withdraw from southern Lebanon by force,” he said. “And in essence, Israel, Lebanon and the United States are telling Iran – it is none of your business. You have no role in Lebanon.
The BriefWire