Qassam Muaddi
Mondoweiss / November 25, 2024
According to Israeli reports, Israel and Lebanon are very close to concluding a ceasefire deal, after two days of intense fire exchange between Hezbollah and the Israeli army over the weekend.
Israel and Lebanon are very close to concluding a ceasefire deal, claimed Israeli reports on Monday, after two days of intense fire exchange between Hezbollah and the Israeli army over the weekend.
On Monday, the Israeli ambassador to the US told the Israeli army’s radio that Israel was close to reaching a ceasefire deal with Lebanon within days, while the Israeli minister of immigration told the same radio station that ceasefire talks with Lebanon reached advanced stages.
These Israeli reports came as the Israeli daily Israel Hayom reported that Netanyahu held a meeting with key ministers in his cabinet late on Sunday, including war minister Israel Katz, strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, and security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and agreed on the final details of the alleged deal.
Paradoxically, Ben-Gvir voiced on Monday his opposition to a ceasefire with Lebanon, calling it “a historical failure,” that would make Israel miss, according to him, “a historical opportunity to destroy Hezbollah.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported that U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein had informed Lebanon of Israel’s agreement to a ceasefire deal after giving Israel an “ultimatum” to agree and warning that he would withdraw from the mediation of the talks.
According to Yediot Ahronot, Israeli officials would have been concerned that the collapse of the talks would lead to a UN Security Council resolution in which the U.S. would abstain from using its veto.
Simultaneously, the Israeli-Lebanese front witnessed an unprecedented escalation over the weekend, as Israel intensified its airstrikes on the Dahiya southern district of Beirut, especially the Haret Hraik neighbourhood, and other parts of the Lebanese capital, destroying entire buildings. On Sunday, an Israeli strike on the Basta neighbourhood in Beirut killed 20 Lebanese civilians. Israeli strikes also killed 12 Lebanese civilians in Tyre and 23 others in Baalbek in east Lebanon.
Hezbollah fired 250 missiles on Israeli targets on Sunday, marking the highest number of missiles launched since the beginning of the war in October of last year. Hezbollah’s missiles targeted the coastal cities of Haifa, Nahariya, and Tel Aviv, where direct hits were recorded, and the city and key seaport of Ashdod on the southern coast. Hezbollah’s missiles also targeted Petah Tikva, east of Tel Aviv, scoring direct hits, as well as the Mount Carmel area in Haifa.
On the border front, heavy combat was reported in the surrounding Lebanese village of Bayadha, where Hezbollah reported destroying five tanks. Also in the outskirts of the town of al-Khyam, Hezbollah reported that its fighters attacked Israeli forces with rockets and shells. Israeli forces had advanced into the town in early November and withdrew completely after a week of fighting.
Analysts have described the current military escalation as “negotiating with fire.” However, Hezbollah’s Secretary General Naim Qassem said in a televised speech last week that the movement does not link its military performance to political talks, insisting that its military actions follow its own plan. Qassem also said that the two stipulations that Hezbollah has in any negotiations are the end of the war and Lebanon’s sovereignty.
Qassem’s insistence on “sovereignty” was a reference to Israel’s demand to amend the UN resolution 1701 that ended Israel’s war on Lebanon in 2006, to give Israel freedom of action in Lebanese territory and airspace in the future. The Lebanese government rejected this condition outright in line with Hezbollah’s position.
According to reports, the negotiated parts of the deal include a 62-day initial ceasefire, the deployment of the Lebanese army along the border line, the withdrawal of Hezbollah’s heavy missiles beyond the Litani river, located 40 kilometers away from the border line at its furthest point and seven kilometers away at its nearest, and the formation of an international commission to oversee the respect of the deal terms.
Qassam Muaddi is the Palestine Staff Writer for Mondoweiss
