“If they insist on remaining, they will face resistance, and our history bears witness to that.” Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said this about Israeli troops still sitting in the country’s south, days into a ceasefire that Washington brokered.
The truce between Israel and Hezbollah was meant to last 10 days. It has largely held since last Thursday, according to Reuters. But Israeli forces have stayed put in a belt of Lebanese territory 5-10 km deep along the whole border, and Israel says it wants a buffer zone to protect its northern communities from the Iran-backed group.
Berri’s warning
Berri, Lebanon’s most senior Shi’ite statesman, an ally of Hezbollah and the head of the Amal Movement, spoke to the newspaper al-Joumhouria. Lebanon, he said, could not accept losing a metre of land. If Israel “maintains its occupation, whether of areas, positions, or by drawing yellow lines, it will smell the scent of resistance every day.”
He also pointed to the past. Israel pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2000 after 22 years, a period in which Hezbollah, Amal and other groups attacked its troops.
The “Yellow Line” label is itself a sore point. The Israeli military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both used it last week for the deployment line in Lebanon, the same name Israel uses in Gaza. Israeli officials have since dropped it and now say “forward defense line.” A military map published on Sunday marked that line in red and added a “naval forward defense area” reaching from the coast out to sea.
Talks and disarmament
Ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon are due in the United States on Thursday. Washington also hosted the two countries’ ambassadors on April 14, the highest-level contact between the states in decades, over strong objections from Hezbollah. Berri repeated that Lebanon has no need for direct talks, noting that he had taken part in several rounds of indirect negotiations with Israel over the years.
President Joseph Aoun sees it differently. He lists Israeli withdrawal among the aims of the face-to-face talks. When Donald Trump announced the ceasefire on April 16, he had first spoken by phone with Netanyahu and with Aoun separately. According to the Jerusalem Post, Aoun refused to speak directly with Netanyahu that day, even as Trump had predicted a call between the two leaders after 34 years.
The harder question is Hezbollah’s weapons. Aoun’s government has sought the group’s peaceful disarmament for a year. Israel wants it dismantled. Defence Minister Israel Katz said the campaign’s ultimate goal is disarmament by military and diplomatic means, and warned: “If the Lebanese government continues not to keep it commitment (to disarm Hezbollah), the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will do so by continuing its military activity.” Netanyahu was milder on Friday, saying the task “will not be achieved tomorrow” and needs “sustained effort, patience, and endurance.”
Wider stakes
Lebanon was pulled into the war on March 2, when Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran during the regional conflict. Lebanese authorities say Israel’s offensive in response has killed nearly 2,300 people.
The fighting has also complicated Pakistan’s attempts to mediate between the U.S. and Iran. Tehran has demanded that any deal on the wider war cover Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah, and Iran said the Lebanon truce was part of an understanding with the U.S. Washington says the two sets of talks are not linked.
A French presidency source said any lasting settlement could not include a permanent buffer zone in southern Lebanon. In the event of lasting peace, the source added, Israel would no longer need one.
Sources
- Israel will face resistance if troops stay in Lebanon, Speaker Berri says
- Lebanon's Aoun refuses direct talks with Benjamin Netanyahu before ceasefire takes effect | The Jerusalem Post
