The News
Lebanon is expected to respond imminently to a ceasefire proposal for Hezbollah and Israel, with the lead Lebanese negotiator indicating that the response will likely be positive, Qatari news site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported, even as Israel stepped up strikes, including hitting central Beirut for the first time in weeks.
The US-backed deal was submitted to Lebanon last week, and includes removing Hezbollah fighters from the border region and would also stipulate a timeline for Israeli military forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
One point of contention appears to relate to Israel’s demand to have the right to act within Lebanon’s borders if any violation of the deal occurs, which Lebanon considers unacceptable, the BBC reported.
SIGNALS
Israeli ceasefire push may be a ‘gift’ to Trump
The rush to secure a ceasefire deal may be an attempt to provide an “early foreign policy win” for incoming US President Donald Trump, who is considered an ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Washington Post reported. “There is an understanding that Israel would gift something to Trump… that in January there will be an understanding about Lebanon,” an Israeli official told the Post. Netanyahu could aim to make a temporary deal while outgoing US President Joe Biden is still in office, and leave the final settlement for Trump to take credit, a former US special envoy for Israel and Palestine said.
Details of the deal — and its enforcement — remain unclear
While there has been “apparent progress” in the ceasefire negotiations, multiple outlets have reported, the details remain opaque and there is no clear contingency plan should it fail. The lead Lebanese negotiator, Nabih Berri, has already suggested that there is no “sane person” who could believe Lebanon would agree to allow the Israeli military to continue to operate in Lebanon to police potential violations of the agreement. Netanyahu, meanwhile, told the Israeli parliament that Israel will continue to operate in Lebanon “even after a ceasefire,” AFP reported.