Posted on 10/21/24
| News Source: Times of Israel
Israel handed the United States a document last week with its conditions for a diplomatic solution to end the war in Lebanon, a report said Sunday, as US envoy Amos Hochstein has arrived in Beirut for talks on a potential ceasefire.
According to a report in Axios, citing two US officials and two Israeli officials, Israel has demanded IDF troops be allowed to engage in “active enforcement” to make sure Hezbollah doesn’t rearm and rebuild its military infrastructure close to the border.
Israel had also demanded the Air Force have freedom of operation in Lebanese airspace, the report added.
A US official told the news outlet that it was highly unlikely that Lebanon and the international community would agree to Israel’s conditions. The White House and the Israeli embassy in Washington refused to comment on the report.
According to the US news site, Israel wants to be able to conduct “active enforcement” of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which requires that the Lebanese Armed Forces be the only force with arms in southern Lebanon.
The resolution has gone largely unenforced since it was passed in 2006, allowing Hezbollah to build up a formidable arms cache and defensive capabilities, with neither UNIFIL peacekeepers nor the LAF willing to challenge the Iran-backed terror group.
Israel has repeatedly portrayed its offensive in southern Lebanon as essentially stepping in and doing UNIFIL’s job for it.
“We are talking about 1701 with increased enforcement. Our main message is that if the Lebanese army and UNIFIL do more, the IDF will do less and the other way around,” an Israeli official is quoted as saying.
Hochstein will be in Beirut on Monday for talks with officials on conditions for a ceasefire, two sources in Lebanon told Reuters.
The US envoy is set to meet Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri during his visit.
Berri told the Al-Arabiya broadcaster over the weekend that Hochstein’s visit was “the last chance before the US elections” to reach a truce and said he would reject any amendments to UN Resolution 1701.