Lebanon has taken a positive view toward the United States ceasefire proposal between Hezbollah and Israel, which it received last week via the American Ambassador Lisa Johnson, according to a report on the LBCI website.
An Israeli source clarified that this does not mean Lebanon has accepted the offer but rather that it had viewed it positively. US special envoy Amos Hochstein is due to arrive in Lebanon on Tuesday to discuss the proposal, according to the LBCI site.
The IDF, for the last year, has fought a cross-border war with Hezbollah at the same time that it is battling Hamas in Gaza. US President Joe Biden is hoping that he can put in place a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah before he leaves office on January 20.
There is a broad understanding that such an agreement would be based on United Nations Security Resolution 1701, which set the ceasefire terms that ended the Second Lebanon War.
That resolution mandates that armed non-state actors such as Hezbollah were not allowed to operate in Southern Lebanon between the Israeli border and the Litani River, but there is no means by which to assess adherence.
Push for enforcement mechanism
Israel and the United States hope to put in place an enforcement mechanism. Barring that, Israel has said it wants to maintain the right to strike at Hezbollah targets should the Iranian proxy rearm rearm its border.
Lebanon and Hezbollah have opposed granting Israel the right to strike, insisting that there are other means to ensure that Hezbollah does rearm Israel’s border.
The United Nations Security Council is set to hear a report on compliance with 1701 on Tuesday, Tuesday. Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer was in Washington last week to discuss the terms of an IDF-Hezbollah agreement.
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer was in Washington last week to discuss the terms of an IDF-Hezbollah agree nt. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel one week earlier, where he also raised the subject of Lebanon.
