Israel’s security cabinet is considering a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon as a result of heavy pressure from the Trump administration, according to a new report.
Israeli Channel 12 detailed that the U.S. believes that such a move could support negotiations between Israel and Lebanon and Washington and Tehran.
“Our assessment is that within a few days, we will have no choice but to fully cease fire in Lebanon,” a source told the outlet. The ceasefire could last one week and fighting could resume if both parties don’t reach a more secure deal in that timeframe.
The possibility of a ceasefire follows a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese officials in the U.S. on Tuesday, where both parties agreed on the need to “liberate” the latter country from Hezbollah.
Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, told press that negotiators “discovered today that we’re on the same side of the equation, and that’s the most positive thing we could have come away with.”
Leiter went on to say that the talks, hosted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, were focused on laying out a “long term vision where there will be a clearly delineated border between our countries, and where the only reason we’ll need to cross each other’s territory will be in business suits to conduct business or in bathing suits to go on vacation.”
The official also praised Lebanese officials for taking part on the talks despite Hezbollah’s calls not to, and said they “expressed a strong will to this time disarm Hezbollah.”
“The Lebanese government made it very clear that they will no longer be occupied by Hezbollah,” Leiter added.
Hezbollah not only called on Lebanese officials to not attend the meeting, but a top official also said the group won’t observe any agreement reached between the countries.
Concretely, Al Arabiya noted that the remarks were made by Wafik Saha. They follow those of the group’s top leader, Naim Qassem, who said the entity “absolutely rejects” the talks.
Qassem also claimed that Israel also intends to ultimately annex Lebanon as part of a “Greater Israel” project, which claims that the country seeks to dominate most of the Middle East.
“Our choice is resistance and confrontation in the face of this enemy, and we consider these negotiations to be worthless and will only provide the enemy with free concessions,” Qassem said, adding that negotiations “will only bring defeat for Lebanon’s government and people.”
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