Last month, US envoy Tom Barrack insisted the US had no business asking Israel to stop attacking Lebanon. In keeping with Barrack’s ongoing inconsistency, he today insisted that Israel should comply with the ceasefire, withdraw from Lebanon and stop attacking them.
“I think the Lebanese department has done their part. They’ve taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply,” Barrack said, adding that he intended to discuss the matter with Israeli officials soon.
The ceasefire that ended Israel’s invasion of Lebanon came in late November, though Israel has continued to attack Lebanon on a near daily basis, and maintained occupation bases on southern Lebanon hilltops, claiming the US had given them the green light to do so.
US Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack | Image from Reuters
Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu is now claiming that constantly bombing Lebanon is actually being done in accordance with the ceasefire, which to be clear, it absolutely is not.
The ceasefire required Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory by January, which they didn’t and to report Hezbollah violations to the body of mediators, who would transmit those reports to Lebanon’s Army, who was meant to rectify the situation. Only in the case that they failed would Israel be allowed to strike. There has been no sign the mediators have been informed of any of the thousands of Israeli operations inside Lebanon, and the Lebanese Army has never been given the opportunity to check out Israeli claims before the bombs fell either.
Even the notion that endless airstrikes is in line with the ceasefire is obviously false on its face, as at the very least, the expectation of any ceasefire would be a cessation of fire. Hezbollah, for its part, has not launched a single rocket at Israel since the November deal went into effect.
In keeping with Israel’s ‘understanding’ of the ceasefire, they attacked a stone-cutting plant in the border village of Khiam today, wounding at least four people, who were described by the Health Ministry as Syrian workers at the site.
Its not clear why Khiam was attacked today, though Israel regularly strikes border villages as a matter of course, and a few weeks ago, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Israel would never allow Lebanon to rebuild the Lebanese towns and villages near the border. He also insisted Israel would never withdraw ground troops from Lebanon, so Barrack’s demands, if indeed he follows through with them at all, may be an uphill battle.
