Israel discusses new US-led deal to end Hezbollah conflict

On October 30, 2024By Karl

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening of the 25th session of Parliament in Jerusalem on October 28, 2024. (Debbie Hill, Pool Photo, AFP, Getty Images via TNS)

(Tribune News Service) — Israel is considering a U.S.-led deal to end the conflict in Lebanon and remove Hezbollah fighters from the Israeli border after assessing that the militant group’s rocket arsenal has been largely depleted or destroyed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with top aides late Tuesday to discuss a new proposal from Washington, his spokesman said. The White House will send two of President Joe Biden’s top Middle East envoys, Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein, to Israel on Thursday as part of the talks, another Israeli official said.

If adopted, the plan would lead to a 60-day suspension of hostilities while mediators prepare a permanent peace agreement to remove Hezbollah from the border area and increase the number of United Nations peacekeepers there, Israel’s Channel 12 television reported.

But there are still many obstacles to overcome, as the numerous failed attempts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza show. On Wednesday, the Israeli army ordered an evacuation, mostly in the form of bombardment, for the eastern Lebanon city of Baalbek and some surrounding areas. The health ministry said at least 60 people were killed in Israeli attacks on similar parts of Lebanon earlier this week.

“For your safety, you must immediately evacuate your homes and move out of cities and villages,” an Israeli military spokesman told channel X in Arabic. The order covers an unusually broad area by the standards of Israel’s recent military announcements regarding Lebanon.

Hezbollah began firing missiles and drones at Israel a day after war with Hamas broke out last October and has repeatedly said it will continue fighting until a ceasefire is reached in Palestinian territory.

Hezbollah’s stance on the latest offer is unclear. It has suffered heavy losses over the past six weeks, including the killing of its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut. On Tuesday, Hezbollah chose his deputy, Naim Qasim, to replace Nasrallah.

Both Hezbollah and Hamas are supported by Iran and are considered terrorist organizations by the United States and many other countries.

“The war in the north will be over by the end of the year,” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told reporters on Tuesday, referring to the Lebanese front. He added that 2025 “will not be a year of war, it will be a year of exit from war.”

The developments helped put downward pressure on oil prices. While Brent crude oil lost more than 6 percent in value on Monday and Tuesday, it made a partial recovery on Wednesday. This week’s decline is also due to Israel avoiding Iran’s most sensitive infrastructure, such as its oil and nuclear facilities, as it carries out its expected attack on the Islamic Republic on Saturday.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday that Hezbollah’s chain of command was now broken and estimated that its missile and rocket capacity was 20% of what it was before the conflict.

Launches from Lebanon to Israel still continue. On Wednesday, the Israeli military sounded sirens in Haifa and parts of the Galilee region and said 15 missiles had passed through Lebanon, some of which were intercepted.

Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid said he had received updates from the government on efforts to stop the fighting in Lebanon.

“I think it would be right to achieve a diplomatic victory,” he told Israeli Army Radio.

The conflict has forced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border region to flee their homes.

Israeli attacks across Lebanon over the past six weeks have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced nearly 1.2 million, according to the Lebanese government. Last year, nearly 100 Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed along with Israel due to Hezbollah’s attacks.

(With assistance from Galit Altstein, Ethan Bronner and Omar El Chmouri.)

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