Yesterday afternoon (Washington time), the US, Israel and Lebanon signed a “framework agreement” that was hailed by the State Department as a “major milestone in President Trump’s effort to bring lasting peace and stability to the region,” but that sparked protests among Shiites in Lebanon. The State Department statement on the agreement labels Hezbollah, and by extension, Iran, as the sole threat to Lebanese sovereignty, and clearly indicates that the Lebanese government is to join Israel’s war against that armed group.
Israel and Lebanon, it claims, “have been dragged into war by terrorist militias and proxies that have undermined Lebanon’s sovereignty, launched senseless attacks on Israel, and exported chaos across the entire Middle East. Hizballah, Iran’s most dangerous proxy, has repeatedly dragged Lebanon into devastating wars against the will of its government and people, most recently this March. It has built a vast military infrastructure inside Lebanon, fired tens of thousands of rockets and drones at Israeli cities, and played a key role in the devastation of Syria. Hizballah also plots attacks against Americans, supports drug trafficking networks that fuel violence in our hemisphere and inside the United States, and directly threatens American citizens and interests around the world.
“Today, the Governments of Israel and Lebanon made a bold decision to agree to a framework that builds a realistic path out of endless conflict,” it claimed further. “This agreement establishes a clear and structured process to restore Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hizballah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and enable Israel to return to its borders once that threat to its citizens is removed. It also creates a trilateral Military Coordination Group for Lebanon (MCG4L), facilitated by the United States, allowing the two sides to implement this Framework. For Lebanon, this Framework provides a genuine pathway out of a long crisis. For Israel, it creates a verifiable path to removing the persistent threat on its northern border.”
The agreement seems to place very little responsibility on Israel, however for its Gaza-like assault on southern Lebanon. An unnamed Israeli official later clarified to The Times of Israel that troops will only be pulling back from two areas that are located beyond the original borders of the buffer zone that was established in April. In the two-plus months that followed, the IDF pushed further north, adding additional territory to the buffer zone. It is from two of those areas that Israel has agreed to withdraw in today’s agreement with Lebanon, and they do not include the Beaufort Castle, which Israel recaptured in May.
Protests broke out in several locations in Lebanon, especially in Beirut, after the agreement was signed in Washington. The army was reportedly deployed to put down the protests according to video clips posted on social media. “Most people in Lebanon, especially Shias, consider the Israeli-Lebanese agreement a betrayal and say it amounts to a normalization move,” commented the Middle East Spectator. “Among other things, the Israeli-Lebanese deal includes a plan to combat Hezbollah together.”
But Israeli intentions towards Lebanon were already revealed in a March 18 interchange between two Israeli journalists on Israel’s Channel 13 news. “Seems like we’re leading the State of Lebanon toward civil war. Maybe it’s not so bad for us. Let the Lebanese government fight Hezbollah,” said Raviv Drucker, reportedly considered one of the most “leftist” voices, according to a video clip posted on X back on April 10. Veteran reporter Alon Ben David responds, “That’s been the goal from the start.” That video clip is getting renewed circulation as a result of the signing of the Washington Agreement.
