Israel responded on Thursday to Lebanon’s demands for de-escalation with more evacuation warnings for southern towns that will increase internal pressure on the Lebanese state.
It issued the warnings even as Lebanese and United Nations proposals have been relayed to Israel over consolidating the ceasefire in the South. At the moment, these efforts appear to have yielded little results save for keeping Lebanese state infrastructure out of Israel’s targets.
UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert informed on Thursday Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on the outcome of her visit to Israel on Sunday as part of efforts to consolidate the ceasefire.
Informed sources said her visit yielded no initiative. Lebanese ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that she conveyed “ideas and visions” to Israeli officials over how to consolidate the ceasefire and pave the way for negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.
Her efforts were met with an Israeli escalation with the warnings to southern towns in the Tyre and Nabatieh districts.
Israel has repeatedly said that its operations are solely aimed against Hezbollah, not the Lebanese state. Lebanese sources, however, view the attacks as an attempt to increase pressure against the state. The warnings are leading to the displacement of tens of thousands of people, which is increasing pressure on the state that views direct negotiations with Israel as a solution to the problem.
The “Shiite duo” of Hezbollah and its ally, Amal, are opposed to the talks.
Aoun has through his various diplomatic contacts been urging Israel to commit to the ceasefire that US President Donald Trump extended for another three weeks. Aoun has also been calling for Israel to release Lebanese detainees and withdraw from Lebanese territories.
He met on Thursday with a delegation from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. He stressed to it the need for Israel to respect international laws and agreements and cease attacks against civilians, medics, and civil defense, humanitarian, health and relief teams.
Berri and Hezbollah
Meanwhile, differences between Aoun and parliament Speaker and Amal movement leader Nabih Berri over direct negotiations with Israel came to the open on Wednesday.
Telecommunications Minister Charles al-Hage said: “There are no disputes between them over the end goals. The main goals are ending the destruction and killing.”
“Not a single Lebanese person trusts Israel, and so, we need international guarantees, especially ones from the US and Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia, to ensure that the ceasefire will be respected and consolidated,” he added.
In a statement on Labor Day, which falls on May 1, Berri called on the Lebanese “state, and all of its authorities, and the international community, and its rights and justice organizations, to make Israel immediately cease its attacks.” He also called for an international probe into Israel’s crimes in Lebanon.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, continued its attacks against Aoun over direct negotiations with Israel.
Member of the Iran-backed party’s Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Ali Fayyad said the president’s stance is “increasingly alarming because he is promoting American demands, rather than distancing himself from them.”
“Most dangerous is that he is agreeing to them without making a clear objection to allowing Israel freedom of movement even though he has been demanding a ceasefire,” he said in remarks to local radio.
How can a date for the next round of talks be scheduled amid the ongoing Israeli attacks and escalation? he wondered.
He noted that there appears to be “clear confusion in the official Lebanese stance and a lack of transparency. Most dangerous of all is the undisclosed American-Israeli side agreement that has given Israel the green light to act freely against potential threats. Aoun’s statements imply that he has agreed to this.”
