Lebanon-Israel ceasefire efforts: Latest developments
Israel and Lebanon are on the verge of a ceasefire agreement to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, two senior Israeli officials and two U.S. officials told U.S. news portal Axios.
The draft agreement includes a U.S.-led oversight committee to monitor implementation and address violations.
The U.S. has agreed to give Israel a letter of assurances that includes support for Israeli military action against imminent threats from Lebanese territory, and for action to disrupt things like the reestablishment of a Hezbollah military presence near the border or the smuggling of heavy weapons, Israeli and U.S. officials say.
Under the agreement, Israel would take such action after consultations with the U.S., and if the Lebanese military did not deal with the threat.
"The agreement was nearing completion last Thursday when the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant," U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios.
The news came while Netanyahu was meeting with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, who has been mediating for a year between Israel and Lebanon.
"Netanyahu was outraged, and grew even more angry after the French Foreign Ministry announced that France would implement the court's ruling. That threw a wrench into the negotiations, as Lebanon had wanted France to be part of the oversight committee to monitor implementation of the agreement.
On Friday, Biden spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron to try to solve the problem," Axios reported.
A U.S. official said Biden told Macron that Netanyahu was right to be angry, and that it was not possible to mediate a deal while also pledging to arrest the head of state of one of the parties.
Macron told Biden he wanted to help but that his Foreign Ministry was only making clear its legal obligations towards the ICC. The French issued second statement to try to tamp down the tensions.
Lebanon's Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab said later on Monday that Israel has accepted that France be part of the committee after Lebanese officials insisted. There was no immediate confirmation from the Israeli side.
On Saturday, Hochstein sent a message to Netanyahu through Israeli Ambassador to Washington Mike Herzog in which he "threatened to withdraw as mediator if Israel did not move towards a deal in the coming days," according to a source familiar with the matter.
Netanyahu held a meeting about the ceasefire talks on Sunday evening that included several senior ministers and intelligence chiefs, Israeli officials say.
A decision was taken to move towards the agreement, according to one senior Israeli official, who said an announcement could come this week.
A second Israeli official who attended the meeting said "the direction is positive" but that several issues remained unresolved and it's not a done deal.
Two senior U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the issue said the parties were getting close to a deal, but it was not completed.
Netanyahu would need to bring any agreement to a vote in the Security Cabinet, Israeli officials say.
The Israeli ambassador to Washington for his part said that a cease-fire deal could be reached “within days.”
Ambassador Mike Herzog told Israeli Army Radio on Monday that there remained “points to finalize” and that any deal required agreement from the government. But he said “we are close to a deal” and that “it can happen within days.”
On Monday, the Pentagon's top Middle East policy official, Dan Shapiro, will arrive in Israel and meet with Defense Minister Israel Katz and other Israeli officials.
Source: Naharnet, Associated Press
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