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<\/p>\nLebanon Cannot Make Peace Alone<\/p>\n
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By: Ghassan Rubeiz \/ Arab America Contributing Writer<\/p>\n
The United States has lately sponsored a Lebanon\u2013Israel Framework to advance peace talks between the two countries. The Framework is premised on Israel withdrawing from Southern Lebanon in steps as the Lebanese armed forces disarm Hezbollah. Is this peace formula realistic?<\/p>\n
The obstacles are formidable. Israel seems to show little appetite for full withdrawal from Lebanese territory. Hezbollah rejects direct diplomatic engagement with Israel outright. Internal conflict among Lebanese factions remains a live risk. Trump seems unwilling to spend political capital pressing Israel to fully withdraw from Southern Lebanon. And the widening confrontation with Iran, Hezbollah\u2019s principal regional backer, hangs over all of it.<\/p>\n
None of this is hypothetical. Israel\u2019s territorial ambitions in Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories look extensive and durable. Hezbollah\u2019s posture toward Israel is not easy to describe accurately: Partly resistance to Israel\u2019s occupation and partly a position of solidarity with Iran. Civil war in Lebanon is a real possibility given Hezbollah\u2019s military strength and domestic support. Trump\u2019s record of backing Israeli control over Arab land is unprecedented. If the war with Iran expands, Lebanon\u2013Israel talks become even more tenuous than they already are.<\/p>\n
Amid these pressures, two indicators matter most: how quickly Israel withdraws, signaling whether annexation of Lebanese land is truly off the table, and whether diplomacy with Hezbollah can move from ultimatums to genuine de-escalation.<\/p>\n
The regional context is relevant to the negotiations. Lebanon is pursuing full territorial liberation while other occupied Arab lands sit ignored \u2014 a lonely position, and a precarious one.<\/p>\n
Did Lebanese President Joseph Aoun\u2019s Washington visit move Trump to pressure Israel? The optics were warm: Trump promised to help Lebanon \u201ca lot\u201d and lifted the four-decade ban on US airlines going to Beirut \u2013 a symbolic act that will not lead to immediate enforcing. But asked whether Washington would act to accelerate the withdrawal and back the Lebanese army, Trump was receptive but noncommittal on pressuring Israel firmly. Warmth without commitment is not pressure. And when Prime Minister Nawaf Salam planted a flag in the Southern Lebanese town of Zawtar Al Gharbiyeh calling it the start of a \u201ccomplete Israeli withdrawal,\u201d he was celebrating one liberated village in the first of several planned pilot zones \u2014 a limited move out of a long path, not the outcome he described. Both Aoun and Salam, are endeavoring to win trust domestically and regionally, insisting that signing the Framework with Israel and trusting Washington were the right calls. Lebanon has crossed a regional red line and is betting the risk was worth it.<\/p>\n
Still, there\u2019s a modified path worth exploring: a Levantine peace track that adds Syria to the Lebanon\u2013Israel framework. Damascus would likely join if the Iran war ends soon, Syrian occupied territory is restored, the process offers Palestinians a path to equality and Gulf states back the idea politically and financially. Under those conditions, Syria\u2019s new leadership would have real reasons to align with Beirut and Tel Aviv in a trilateral peace.<\/p>\n
There is more to settling borders than meets the eye. Liberating land is not a real estate settlement. Returning territory, illegally occupied to Lebanon, Syria, and the Palestinians removes obstacles to state-building on all three sides. For Israel, ending the occupations would free resources and attention now spent on managing an unmanageable occupation, and precipitate a reckoning with the unresolved question of full democratic rights for its own Palestinian citizens \u2014 the only real foundation for lasting peace and security. For Syria, a diplomatic opening tied to genuine land restitution would give Damascus\u2019s new leadership the cover and support it needs to pursue real political reform, without which millions of displaced Syrians will keep refusing to return to a government they still do not trust. For Lebanon, a Hezbollah converted into a non militarized political party would let the state reclaim its monopoly on force and finally turn its attention to an economy that has been deteriorating for years.<\/p>\n
The Levantine peace plan has its own challenges. The Iran war remains the biggest obstacle to any peace scenario, and peace-making of this kind needs time and phasing. Israel and the US will need a renewed realism and leadership to make the region fully invested in peace.<\/p>\n
And the Palestinian question cannot be left out: if Israel builds diplomatic relations with Lebanon and Syria, it becomes far harder to sustain the policies that have devastated Palestinian life. Hezbollah\u2019s posture is inseparable from the Palestinian cause \u2014 if it sees a real end to mass killing, credible political movement towards freedom and regional guarantees for Palestinian rights, one of its core justifications for armed resistance disappears.<\/p>\n
Lebanon may need Syria to shape its future with Israel. Israel must choose between policies of fear and distrust and rational regional integration. The roadmap exists: a deal with Iran, peace with Lebanon and Syria, a transformed Hezbollah, and a viable Palestinian solution. Real security comes not from dominating the region but from integrating with it.<\/p>\n
Ghassan Rubeiz is the former Middle East Secretary of the World Council of Churches. Earlier, he taught psychology and social work in his country of birth, Lebanon, and later in the United States, where he currently\u00a0lives. He has contributed to political commentary for the past twenty years and has delivered occasional public talks on peace, justice, and interfaith topics. You can reach him at\u00a0rubeizg@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Arab America. The reproduction of this article is permissible with proper credit to Arab America and the author.<\/p>\n Want more articles like this?\u00a0Sign up for our e-newsletter!<\/a><\/p>\n