​Incomplete truce: On the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire

The new ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon could help remove a major obstacle to U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to secure a preliminary agreement with Iran to end the war. Last week, Iran suspended talks with the U.S. in protest against Israel’s escalating war in Lebanon. In April, when Mr. Trump announced an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, he had said that Israel was “prevented” from attacking the country any longer. But Tel Aviv continued air strikes and expanded ground operations in southern Lebanon. Iran has maintained that in its April 8 ceasefire with the U.S., Washington had promised that the ceasefire would come into force on all fronts, including Lebanon. Now, after Iran paused talks with the U.S., Mr. Trump swung into action. He claimed that he had talked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu out of his plans to bomb Beirut and had a conversation with Hezbollah’s representatives, who agreed “not to shoot”. The Israel-Lebanon ceasefire statement followed Mr. Trump’s announcement. Mr. Trump’s firm diplomatic intervention, which reportedly included an expletive-laden call with Mr. Netanyahu, points to the importance he gives to the diplomatic process. Before the Lebanon crisis flared up, the U.S. and Iran were negotiating a memorandum of understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and remove the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, which would set the stage for negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme.

While the ceasefire agreement is welcome, it remains fragile and incomplete, leaving the conflict’s key problems unaddressed. The actual fighting in Lebanon is between Israel and Hezbollah. The Lebanese government is not a party to the conflict and Hezbollah does not report to the Lebanese army. But Hezbollah was not part of the negotiations. The ceasefire agreement requires Hezbollah to unilaterally cease attacks, but it does not ask Israel to make concessions. Hezbollah says it would stop fighting only if Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon. Israel, which has made its deepest incursions into southern Lebanon since its 2000 withdrawal, is not talking about any withdrawal plan. Israel has also broken all its ceasefire agreements in recent years. Despite a truce deal, it continues to bomb Gaza. Mr. Trump’s announcement of a new ceasefire despite an existing one highlights the fragility of the truce. What he is trying to do is to bring in a stop-gap arrangement in Lebanon to push his planned deal with Iran. But for this to work, he should get firm commitments from Israel that it would not break the terms. For a lasting truce in Lebanon, Israel has to end its illegal occupation of the south and pull back its troops.