US-brokered Israel-Lebanon talks are already adjourned for the month of August, but as the war continues various controversies raise doubts over whether it would be worth coming back to the table in September, and indeed if Israel is taking these matters seriously.
The latest round of controversies started Friday with the Israeli Foreign Ministry publishing a map on social media aiming to downplay child malnutrition in the Gaza Strip. The map, rather conspicuously, made Lebanon substantially smaller than it actually is, and added quite a bit of Lebanon’s south to Israel.
Israel deleted the map, and claimed it was an “error.” The Lebanese government is reportedly investigating but notably hasn’t made any public comments regarding the matter. Hezbollah isn’t being so quiet about it.
Israeli Foreign Ministry map shows southern Lebanon incorporated into Israel | Image from X
Rather, Hezbollah issued a statement calling on Lebanon to halt direct talks over the map, accusing the Israelis of incorporating occupied Lebanon into their territory in an effort to “impose new realities” on the situation.
Adding more confusion to the already struggling negotiations, Israel reportedly also raised the prospect of a “civilian prisoner exchange” which would allow Lebanon to recover the civilians Israel has captured so far over the course of the war. In return they wanted the Lebanese government to exhume remains of Lebanese Jews and send them to Israel.
Historically, Lebanon had a rather substantial Jewish community, and both Beirut and Sidon have historic Jewish cemeteries. The expectation that they’d be dug up and their bodies given to the Israeli state was previously never broached, and reportedly “bewildered” the Lebanese negotiating team.
In return, Israel would only retain those captives they’re confident aren’t Hezbollah, and since they were presumably captured in occupied southern Lebanon, there’s nothing to prevent Israel from simply recapturing them on their return, while Lebanon’s cemeteries clearly have finite numbers of people to “exchange” for them.
This proposal further raises questions about Israel’s seriousness in the talks, as Israel is reportedly refusing to discuss withdrawing from Lebanon or even halting attacks on Lebanon, but is now transitioning the talks to minutiae regarding centuries-old cemeteries.
