© Reuters
Israeli military near the border with Lebanon, January 15, 2024.
Extraordinary news
Get the big news as it happens – straight to your email.
France has sent a written proposal to Beirut aimed at ending hostilities with Israel and settling the disputed border between Lebanon and Israel, according to a document seen by Reuters, which calls on fighters, including the elite Hezbollah, to withdraw on 10 km from the border.
The plan aims to end fighting between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel on the border. The hostilities run parallel to the war in Gaza and fuel fears of a devastating, all-out confrontation.
The document, the first written proposal given to Beirut following weeks of Western mediation, was taken to senior Lebanese government officials, including Prime Minister Najib Mikati, by French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejournet last week, four senior Lebanese and three French officials said.
It aims to prevent a conflict “that risks spiraling out of control” and to impose “a possible cease-fire when the conditions are right” and eventually envisages negotiations to delineate the disputed land border between Lebanon and Israel.
The probability of war in Lebanon has increased, the army in Israel believes
Hezbollah officially rejects de-escalation talks until the war in Gaza ends, a position echoed by a Hezbollah politician in response to questions from the agency. While some details of such mediation efforts by US Middle East envoy Amos Hochstein have circulated in recent weeks, the full details of the French written proposal delivered to Lebanon have not been reported until now.
Tens of thousands have fled their homes on both sides of the border since the shelling began. In Lebanon, 200 people were killed in strikes, 170 of them Hezbollah fighters. In Israel, there are five civilian casualties and 10 military killed. But the strikes have mostly targeted areas near the border, and both sides have said they want to avoid all-out war.
A French diplomatic source said the offer had been made to the governments of Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah. Most Western envoys to the region have met with Lebanese authorities in recent months in efforts to de-escalate. At the same time, Hezbollah signaled that it might support the state if negotiations were held on a border deal with Israel. It is not known whether the proposal will be commented on today by the leader of the group, Hassan Nasrallah.
What’s on offer: Three spikes
The proposal recalls a truce that ended the 1996 war between Hezbollah and Israel, as well as UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war.
The document outlines three steps in 10 days.
- First step: both sides will cease military operations.
- Second step: within three days, there will be a withdrawal of Lebanese combat forces (this includes Hezbollah’s elite Radwan fighters) at least 10 km north of the border and Lebanon will begin deploying troops to the south. Israel to suspend flights over Lebanese territory.
- Third step: within 10 days, Lebanon and Israel will resume negotiations to delimit the land border “gradually” and with the support of the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL.
They will also participate in negotiations on a road map to ensure the creation of a zone free of any non-state armed groups between the border and the Litani River.
Hezbollah commander killed, Israeli air base hit: Is larger war looming
Up to 15,000 soldiers from the Lebanese army will be deployed in the border region of southern Lebanon, a political stronghold of Hezbollah, where the group’s fighters blend into society in times of peace.
One of the issues to be resolved is the financing of the Lebanese army, greatly weakened by Lebanon’s severe financial crisis. The proposal calls for international efforts to support the deployment of the Lebanese army with “funding, equipment, training”. It also calls for the “socio-economic development of southern Lebanon”.
Compromise
France has historical ties with Lebanon. It has 20,000 citizens in the country and regarding 800 soldiers as part of a UN peacekeeping force. “We have made proposals. We are in contact with the Americans and it is important to unite all initiatives and build peace,” Sejourne said at a news conference on Monday.
The text, according to Lebanese officials, also contains vague points, such as the demand that armed groups dismantle premises and facilities near the border, which the official said was vaguely worded and might be used to demand action once morest Hezbollah-linked civilians. institutions.
The proposal might be a compromise at a difficult time since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, when the Israeli army has found it difficult to maintain months of intensive operations in both Gaza and the Lebanese border.
Hostage to Hezbollah: Lebanon is on the brink of an abyss
Several non-state groups, including Palestinian factions, have mounted attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon during the recent hostilities, although Hezbollah is the dominant force in the region with a fighting force believed to outnumber the Lebanese army.
If there is a withdrawal according to the French plan, it will be less ambitious than the withdrawal to Lebanon’s Litani River (30 km) provided for in the UN resolution of 2006, which ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah at the time. It will also ensure that rockets do not reach villages in northern Israel.
#France #proposed #plan #withdraw #Hezbollah #border #Israel