Ceasefire ‘Agreed’ But Not Agreed

As so often over the last 13 months, we were told that one side of the conflict in the Middle East had agreed to a ceasefire, with Reuters reporting that Lebanon and Hezbollah agree to a US proposal for a ceasefire with Israel.

US Middle East envoy, Amos Hochstein, travelled to Lebanon on Tuesday amid optimism that an agreement was ready to be signed. But he has stayed in the country for a second day to make “additional progress” with the Lebanese parliament’s Speaker, Nabih Berri, thus indicating that there was no agreement yet – further negotiations were needed.

Now Hochstein plans to travel to Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday morning, saying that he sees a “real opportunity” to end the conflict after the Lebanese government and Hezbollah “largely agreed” to the US ceasefire proposal.

In parallel, Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem, said on Wednesday that his group would not accept any deal that violates Lebanese sovereignty – basically rejecting Israel’s demand for freedom to act against them.

He said in a pre-recorded speech that Hezbollah seeks a “complete and comprehensive end to the aggression” and “the preservation of Lebanon’s sovereignty ... the Israeli enemy cannot enter [Lebanese territory] whenever it wants.”

Thus, there is still disagreement over the current proposal, with Israel insisting on the right to respond to any future threats from Hezbollah.

Today’s update from Dr Alon Burstein includes a relevant review of these ceasefire negotiations.