US-brokered truce agreement between Israel and Lebanon's government faces immediate resistance from Hezbollah, which called it a surrender demand, while Israel refuses to withdraw from southern Lebanon; fighting continues on the ground as the Lebanon front emerges as a new variable in US-Iran end-of-war negotiations

An apartment building in Beirut, Lebanon [123RF]
An apartment building in Beirut, Lebanon [123RF]

By Seo Ji-yeon, The Herald Business

A US-brokered truce agreement between Israel and Lebanon is unraveling almost immediately after its announcement. Hezbollah, the direct party to the deal on the Lebanese side, rejected it as a document "forcing surrender," while Israel is holding firm against withdrawing from southern Lebanon. With US-Iran end-of-war negotiations entering their final stages, the Lebanon front is emerging as a new and complicating variable.

The Department of State announced Wednesday that Israel and the Lebanese government had reached an agreement on implementing a truce, following talks held in Washington.

The agreement calls for Hezbollah to halt all attacks and withdraw its fighters from areas south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon. It also includes a plan to establish a pilot zone where the Lebanese army would exercise exclusive control, with non-state armed groups excluded.

Washington sees the deal as a move to stabilize the Lebanon front and accelerate the conclusion of its end-of-war negotiations with Iran.

But cracks appeared almost immediately after the announcement.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in a statement broadcast Thursday on Al-Manar TV that demanding the withdrawal of fighters from southern Lebanon "means nothing but surrender, defeat and the achievement of the enemy's goals."

He said Hezbollah seeks "an end to aggression, a truce and the complete withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces," adding that it had "never promised to stop resistance while the occupation continues."

He also warned that "northern Israel will not be safe as long as Lebanese villages are being bombed," signaling that armed operations could continue.

Israel, too, expressed dissatisfaction with the agreement.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said his forces would "continue to be stationed in the buffer zone in southern Lebanon to protect northern residents from Hezbollah attacks."

Israeli forces currently control roughly 20 percent of Lebanese territory. A de facto buffer zone has formed in southern Lebanon, and Israel has made clear it has no intention of giving it up.

Conditions on the ground are far from a truce atmosphere.

The Israeli military said Thursday it had ordered residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate before striking Hezbollah facilities in the area. It also said it had engaged in close-quarters combat north of the Litani River, killing Hezbollah fighters and seizing weapons.

Hezbollah, for its part, launched rocket attacks against Israeli forces stationed in southern Lebanon.

The deeper concern is that the conflict extends well beyond the Lebanon front alone.

Iran has consistently demanded a truce on all fronts — including Lebanon — as part of its negotiations with the United States. For Tehran, Hezbollah is in effect one of its key bargaining chips.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps recently said Israel must withdraw to the positions it held before its invasion of Lebanon.

Iran has also been signaling that it could step up support for the northern Lebanon front if Israel continues its military operations.


sjy@heraldcorp.com