William Christou
The Guardian / November 12, 2024
Foreign minister says talks continuing over Israel’s stated objectives of pushing Hezbollah away from Israeli border.
Beirut – Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said on Monday that “certain progress” had been made on ceasefire talks in Lebanon, where Israel has been engaged in fighting Hezbollah for more than 13 months.
“We will be ready to be there if we know, first of all, that Hezbollah is not on our border, is north of the Litani River, and that Hezbollah will not be able to arm with new weapons systems,” Saar said.
He added that diplomatic efforts were taking place through US mediation, but that the lack of an enforcement mechanism in any future deal remained a stumbling block.
Israel’s stated objective in its ground invasion of south Lebanon was to enable the return of residents of north Israel, of whom tens of thousands have been displaced since Hezbollah began firing rockets “in solidarity” with Hamas on 8 October 2023.
Israel has said that Hezbollah would need to retreat north of the Litani, 18 miles from its northern border, to ensure the security of north Israel.
Diplomatic efforts were not only confined to US channels, as Israel’s army radio reported that Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, visited Russia last week to discuss ways to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Saar said Russia could play a role in a ceasefire agreement by helping ensure that arms do not flow to Hezbollah via Syria, where Russian troops are present.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, also met a number of Arab leaders, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II and the crown prince of Kuwait, at the Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh on Monday.
Despite the reported progress on a ceasefire deal, Hezbollah has said that it had not seen any actual proposal come across its desk, nor does it expect to anytime soon.
Mohammad Afif, the head of Hezbollah’s media office, said at a press conference on Monday: “There is great movement between Washington and Moscow and Tehran and a number of capitals.
“I believe that we are still in the phase of testing the waters and presenting initial ideas and proactive discussions, but so far there is nothing actual yet.”
Any ceasefire in Lebanon would have to be approved by Hezbollah, and presumably its patron, Iran. Hezbollah’s secretary general, Naim Qassem, has said the group is ready for a ceasefire with Israel and that it has backed away from its previous demand that a ceasefire in Gaza come before it stops fighting.
Despite apparent movement on a ceasefire deal, Israel’s military announced on Sunday that it was expanding its ground assault in southern Lebanon. The head of Israel’s military, Herzi Halevi, approved the expansion of the ground operation in southern Lebanon, which could involve thousands of more permanent and reserve soldiers, Israel’s state broadcaster, Kan, reported.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said on Sunday that Israel had defeated Hezbollah and that further gains could be made in Lebanon.
“Now it is our job to continue to put pressure in order to bring about the fruits of that victory,” Katz said. He added that he hoped Lebanon would join other countries in normalising relations with Israel.
Israel said that its ground invasion of southern Lebanon, which it launched on 30 September, would be “limited and targeted” and was aimed at dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure in the area.
Wide swathes of the border area in southern Lebanon have been flattened since then, with dozens of border villages partly or completely destroyed by Israel.
Hezbollah has been reportedly fighting against advancing Israeli troops, with Afif, its media office head, claiming on Monday that Israel has not been able to “occupy one single village” in 45 days of fighting.
The extent of Israel’s progress in southern Lebanon is unclear, but Israeli troops and tanks have been photographed as far as two miles inside southern Lebanon.
More than 3,190 people have been killed and more than 14,000 wounded by Israel in Lebanon since fighting began a year ago, the vast majority in the last two months.
William Christou is a Beirut-based journalist
