Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday that “some progress” had been made in ceasefire negotiations in Lebanon, where Israel has been engaged in fighting Hezbollah for more than 13 months.
“First of all, if we see that Hezbollah is not on our borders, north of the Litani River, and that Hezbollah cannot be armed with new weapon systems, we will be ready to go there,” Saar said. he said.
He added that diplomatic efforts are being made through US mediation, but the lack of an enforcement mechanism remains an obstacle to any future agreement.
Israel’s stated objective in the ground invasion of southern Lebanon, since Hezbollah began firing rockets “in solidarity” with Hamas on October 8, 2023, is to enable the return of northern Israel’s population, and to Tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate.
Israel has said that to ensure the security of northern Israel, Hezbollah must retreat north of Litani, 19 miles from its northern border.
Diplomatic efforts were not limited to US channels. Israeli military radio reported that Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer visited Russia last week to discuss ways to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Saar said Russia could play a role in the ceasefire agreement by helping to prevent weapons from flowing to Hezbollah through Syria, where Russian troops are stationed.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati also met with a number of Arab leaders, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Kuwait’s Crown Prince, at the Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh on Monday.
Despite reports of progress on a ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah said it has not seen any actual proposals come to the table and has no plans to do so anytime soon.
Hezbollah’s press chief Mohammad Afif told a press conference on Monday that “there is a big movement going on between Washington and Moscow, Tehran and many capitals.”
“I think we’re still in the experimental phase, presenting early ideas and active discussions, but there’s really nothing there yet.”
A ceasefire in Lebanon would require the approval of Hezbollah and likely its backer, Iran. Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qasem said Hezbollah is ready for a ceasefire with Israel and has withdrawn its previous call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip before stopping fighting.
Despite apparent moves towards a cease-fire agreement, the Israeli military announced on Sunday that it was expanding its ground offensive in southern Lebanon. Israel’s state broadcaster Kan reported that Israeli army chief Helji Halevi has approved an expansion of ground operations in southern Lebanon, which could involve thousands more permanent and reserve soldiers.
Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said on Sunday that Israel had defeated Hezbollah and could make further progress in Lebanon.
“It’s our job to keep the pressure on to deliver a winning outcome,” Katz said. He added that Lebanon hopes to join other countries in normalizing relations with Israel.
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Israel said its ground invasion into southern Lebanon, which began on September 30, was “limited and targeted” and aimed at dismantling Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the area.
Since then, large swaths of Lebanon’s southern border area have been flattened and dozens of border villages have been partially or completely destroyed by Israel.
Hezbollah is reportedly fighting advancing Israeli forces, and the media director, Afif, claimed on Monday that Israel had not been able to “capture a single village” in 45 days of fighting.
The extent of Israel’s advance in southern Lebanon is unknown, but Israeli troops and tanks have been photographed as far as two miles within southern Lebanon.
More than 3,190 people have been killed and more than 14,000 injured by Israel in Lebanon since fighting began a year ago, with the majority occurring in the past two months.
