Israel would benefit from a deal with Lebanon, but “the devil is in the details”, according to a former Israel Defense Forces spokesman.
And the “single and most important factor” that will influence peace and stability in both countries is whether , Jonathan Conricus told CNN.
“If Hezbollah is disarmed through this, then there can be peace, stability, prosperity and many positive things for the Lebanese and the Israelis,” Conricus said this Friday (17).
“If Hezbollah is not disarmed, that means more wars, fighting, rockets and suffering — and it all comes down to whether the Lebanese government will actually be able to do what it promised and committed to do, but has so far been unable or unwilling to do.”
In January, Lebanon said it had completed the first phase of its plan to disarm Hezbollah and other militant groups in the country’s south, but Israel said that progress was “far from enough.”
Two months later, Lebanon’s government declared them illegal, adding that it did not possess the necessary force to effectively disarm the group on its own.
Asked whether Lebanon’s armed forces are capable of disarming Hezbollah today, Conricus said: “When you look at the balance of power between the two organizations, Hezbollah still needs to be significantly weakened, militarily speaking.”
This Friday, hours after , smoke was seen rising from the border between the countries, north of Israeli territory.
The ceasefire began on Thursday (16), with a 10-day truce that came into force at 8pm (Brasília time), signaling a pause in Israel’s conflict with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which ran parallel to the war with Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement that he agreed to the 10-day pause and that there was an opportunity to reach a historic agreement with Lebanon, .
Iran welcomes the ceasefire in Lebanon, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said, according to state news agency Tasnim. The spokesperson reiterated that Lebanon does.
According to the spokesperson, Iran emphasized from the beginning “the need to establish a simultaneous ceasefire across the entire region, including Lebanon, and continued to address this issue seriously following the Islamabad talks.”
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf previously said the ceasefire in Lebanon was the result of Hezbollah’s “extraordinary firmness”, but warned that Tehran would approach it “with caution”.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,100 people in Lebanon since March 2 and forced more than 1.2 million to flee, Lebanese authorities said. Hezbollah attacks killed two Israeli civilians, while 13 Israeli soldiers died in Lebanon in the same period, according to Israel.
*With information from Reuters and CNN
