Israel Reiterates It Wants ‘Freedom to Act’ in Southern Lebanon as Part of Truce Deal

On Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar reiterated that Israel wants the “freedom to act” in southern Lebanon as part of any ceasefire deal, a position that’s a non-starter for Hezbollah.

“In any agreement we will reach, we will need to keep the freedom to act if there will be violations,” Saar said, according to AFP. “Unfortunately, Lebanon is a failed state. But we cannot pay the price in our security, in the security of our citizens, for their lack of sovereignty or concessions of sovereignty.”

Also on Wednesday, Hezbollah said that it wouldn’t allow Israel to impose ceasefire conditions. “Israel cannot defeat us and cannot impose its conditions on us,” said Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem.

Qassem said that Hezbollah wants a “complete and comprehensive end to the aggression” and “the preservation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.”

The comments from Qassem and Saar came as US envoy Amos Hochstein, who was appointed by President Biden to broker ceasefire talks, was leaving Lebanon and headed to Israel for talks with Israeli officials. Hochstein said he made progress in Lebanon and was going to Israel to “try to bring this to a close if we can.”

Lebanese officials have said both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have agreed with the US proposal for a ceasefire, signaling it doesn’t include Israel’s demand to have freedom of action in southern Lebanon as a previous US draft did. But Saar believes the US will still support the Israeli demands.

“You can conclude that the Americans believe that such an arrangement is possible. The most important thing to emphasize is that we would like to reach an agreement that will stand the test of time,” Saar said.

Qassem also said that Hezbollah reviewed the US ceasefire proposal and gave feedback to Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament who has been talking with Hochstein. Qassem said the chances of a ceasefire are now in Israel’s hands.