Israel and Lebanon Reach U.S.-Brokered Framework for Ceasefire and Hezbollah Disarmament

The White House on Friday published the details of a U.S.-brokered framework between Israel and Lebanon, shortly after the deal was signed in Washington. The document says both countries recognize each other’s right to exist peacefully and want to live securely as sovereign neighboring states, and that they intend to end the conflict permanently, address its root causes, and formally end any state of war.

According to the White House statement, the two sides will resolve outstanding issues through direct talks mediated by the United States. The Israeli and Lebanese governments also committed to a gradual, reciprocal process with clear conditions that would restore Lebanese state authority over Lebanese territory, give the Lebanese army the mission of disarming Hezbollah, and allow an Israeli withdrawal.

The signing was described as historic. A senior political source in Israel said the framework is meant to lead to future agreements that would end the conflict and reach a peace settlement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Iran is trying to force us to withdraw by force from southern Lebanon. Israel, Lebanon and the United States are telling them, this is none of your business. You have no role in Lebanon.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended the signing and said, “It will take time, but this is the hard part. Israelis deserve to live in peace, especially in the north.” He added, “This is the beginning of the beginning,” while stressing how important the agreement is. Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Yehiel Leiter, and Lebanon’s ambassador in Washington, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, signed the framework and praised each other’s courageous work.

In a prerecorded statement before Shabbat, Netanyahu said the main achievement was that Israel would remain in its security buffer zone in southern Lebanon, and that this would continue as long as Hezbollah was not disarmed and Israel remained under threat. He said Israel was also allowing the Lebanese army to begin deploying in two pilot areas, one south of the Litani River and one north of it, partly in the expanded security zone obtained in the past two weeks. A senior official in Jerusalem added that Israel would keep its security strip along the yellow line until Hezbollah and other Lebanese terrorist groups are disarmed and no longer threaten Israeli territory, and that the IDF would retain freedom of action there to remove threats of any kind.