The U.S. State Department announced yesterday that Israel and Lebanon, in U.S.-mediated talks, have agreed to implement a renewed ceasefire. Hezbollah has to withdraw from areas of Lebanon south of the Litani River and the “two sides agreed with the guidance of the United States to swiftly advance the creation of pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors.”
Apparently, Israel doesn’t withdraw, but some unspecified pilot zones get turned over to the Lebanese government, and the U.S. “guidance” is to somehow oversee this. Given previous U.S. concerns over how to cause Israel to abide by its agreements, there’s nothing here to address the problem.
Otherwise, the language makes it pretty clear that Israel can renew attacks at will, simply by claiming that Hezbollah “infrastructure” exists at any place in Lebanon. It states: “The delegations discussed a security framework… [that] includes the dismantlement of non-state armed groups, and the prevention of their re-emergence…. Israel reaffirmed that its security and respect for its territorial integrity can only be achieved through the disarmament of Hizbollah and the dismantlement of its infrastructure throughout Lebanon.”
