strikes by the United States on Iranian missile and drone sites<\/a> added to the precarity of a cease-fire between the two countries.<\/p>\nThe centerpiece of the agreement between Israel and Lebanon is a plan for Israel\u2019s military to withdraw from a small fraction of occupied territory in southern Lebanon, which is home to the Iran-backed proxy group Hezbollah. Israel is waging its most sustained war in years against the militant group.<\/p>\n
The limits of the agreement were reflected by a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. He emphasized not the modest territory Israel says it will give up, but instead the much larger swath of Lebanon that it will continue to occupy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing is that, first and foremost, Israel remains in the security zone in southern Lebanon,\u201d Mr. Netanyahu said. \u201cThis is a major achievement, and we will maintain it as long as Hezbollah has not been disarmed, as long as there is a threat to the State of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Hezbollah official, who spoke to the news media on the condition of anonymity, said the group rejected the framework agreement. The official said that the plan effectively allowed Israel\u2019s continued presence in southern Lebanon and that Hezbollah would not give up its weapons without an Israeli withdrawal, echoing its longtime stance.<\/p>\n
The plan would begin to establish \u201cpilot zones,\u201d in which Israel\u2019s military would yield control to the Lebanese Armed Forces, who would then be responsible for ensuring Hezbollah did not re-emerge there.<\/p>\n
Mr. Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Forces recommended the two areas, one on each side of Lebanon\u2019s Litani River.<\/p>\n
But the Israeli leader did not offer a timeline for the withdrawal, saying only that Israel would allow the Lebanese army to \u201cbegin organizing\u201d to take control of the areas.<\/p>\n
Israeli officials remain deeply skeptical about the prospect of expanding the pilot zones, arguing that the Lebanese army lacks the training, equipment and political will to defang Hezbollah. <\/p>\n
The long-term goal of the trilateral talks, which began this spring, is a peace agreement with Israel in which Lebanon\u2019s government fully disarms Hezbollah and takes control of areas in southern Lebanon from which the group attacks Israel.<\/p>\n
In return, Israel would end its attacks against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, which have included heavy airstrikes on the capital of Beirut and high civilian casualties, and ultimately withdraw entirely from the country.<\/p>\n
Iran insists that Israel\u2019s military campaign against Hezbollah \u2014 which Israel calls self-defense against the group\u2019s cross-border missile and rocket attacks \u2014 must end immediately and completely, and that Israel must withdraw from Lebanese territory.<\/p>\n
Many Israeli and Lebanese officials were unnerved by language in a memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and the Trump administration earlier this month stating that a final peace deal between the United States and Iran would ensure \u201cthe permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel adamantly rejects any linkage between Lebanon and Mr. Trump\u2019s talks with Iran. That has caused friction between Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu as the American president has sought to sustain fragile diplomacy with Iran and restore free shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Lebanese officials opposed to Hezbollah fear that Mr. Trump might make concessions to Iran that would allow its continued influence in Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Lebanon\u2019s government announced plans last fall to disarm Hezbollah, a move that some of the country\u2019s leaders fear could trigger a new civil war. But it has made little progress toward that goal.<\/p>\n
And now officials in Beirut fear the tide may be turning, said Firas Maksad, the managing director for the Middle East and North Africa practice at Eurasia Group.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government has shifted from an offensive posture toward Hezbollah to now very much being on the defensive and feeling quite undermined \u2014 especially by an American understanding with Tehran linking Lebanon\u2019s fate to Iran,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Israel and Lebanon also agreed to create a military coordination group facilitated by the United States, Mr. Rubio said in his statement. He added that the United States was committing $100 million in humanitarian assistance to Lebanon, in coordination with the United Nations.<\/p>\n
Mr. Maksad noted that Israel and Lebanon had many issues to resolve, including whether and how the Lebanese Armed Forces could take over for Israel\u2019s military in occupied areas that have a strong Hezbollah presence. But for now, he said, Friday\u2019s agreement suggested a determination to stand up to Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite growing fears that Iran and Hezbollah are now emboldened by the outcome of the Iran war, by signing on to an understanding with Israel, authorities in Beirut are signaling determination to maintain their role, not allowing Iran to dictate in Lebanon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr. Netanyahu also emphasized that message.<\/p>\n
\u201cIran has been trying to force us, through pressure, to withdraw from southern Lebanon,\u201d he said. \u201cIn effect, Israel, Lebanon and the United States are telling them: This is none of your business. You have no role in Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lia Lapidot and Hwaida Saad contributed reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel agreed to test how it might execute a military withdrawal from Lebanon, under a U.S.-brokered agreement between…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[2415,4064,100,34,37,93,26050,876,10203,392,4062],"class_list":["post-179665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lebanon","tag-benjamin","tag-donald-j","tag-hezbollah","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-lebanon","tag-marco","tag-netanyahu","tag-rubio","tag-trump","tag-united-states-international-relations"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116819853417130601","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}