With growing calls by the US for Lebanon to crack down and disarm Hezbollah, Reuters is quoting an unnamed senior Hezbollah official as saying they are willing to engage in weapons talks with President Aoun, but only on the condition that Israel both withdraws from its active occupation of parts of southern Lebanon, and stops its daily airstrikes on Lebanon.
Hezbollah MP Ihab Hamadeh dismissed the reported offer, saying that Hezbollah doesn’t offer leaks like that, and that their position would be made publicly by the organization. He also added that the question of Hezbollah’s weaponry is an internal matter for Lebanon and not “something new” for the international community to contend with.
Even if the weapons talks do happen, they are likely short of the Israeli demand to totally disarm. The suggestion that they’re willing to come to the table internally in Lebanon to discuss the weapons strategy with President Aoun would still be a big step.
Getting Israel to stop occupying Lebanon, and indeed stop striking villages along the border, is probably an even bigger ask, as Israeli officials have insisted their intention is to remain in Lebanon for an “unlimited” time.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to move all its forces north of the Litani River. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said late last month that they have no presence left south of the Litani, though Israel has continued to attack villages well south of the Litani every single day, and presents the targets as “Hezbollah operatives.”
This is potentially an obstacle if the talks even do begin between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government, whether any concessions Hezbollah agrees to make will even be believed by the Israelis. Certainly, there is reason to doubt that, as the attacks continue apace.
Overnight, an Israeli drone attacked a building west of Baalbek, in eastern Lebanon. The building was, as usual, presented as a “weapons storage facility” belonging to Hezbollah, though there is, again as usual, no evidence offered that this was actually the case.
Israeli drones were also seen flying at low altitude over the city of Sidon, raising fear that an attack on that city may be imminent. Such attacks are not unusual, and often come after a series of low flights over the area.
Israel is also claiming that Hezbollah is smuggling weapons into Lebanon through the port in Beirut, though once again they didn’t offer evidence of that allegation. Lebanon has rejected the accusation, saying there are already security measures in place to prevent such smuggling and there is no sign of it happening.
Israeli claims about Hezbollah weapons smuggling were previously land-based, focused on the Syrian border with Lebanon, which is why Israel often attacks eastern Lebanon as well as the south. The regime change in Syria to a Sunni Islamist faction, however, means such allegations would no longer be plausible, so it seems that for now, the move is to claim the arms are coming by sea.
